The Day I met Laya and Lana
by evilregaldal
Summary: Emma Swan is a single mom who follows a daily routine everyday to keep her mind distracted from the cruel world. That all changes when one day she meets a mysterious 15 year old girl and her mother. Will Emma bond with them enough to unravel their secrets?
1. Chapter One

Wash the laundry, fold the laundry. Then Henry has soccer practice for a whole hour. That leaves me time to tidy up the room before the 10 year old stampedes right back in here and creates his own tornado of hell.

 _Deep breath Swan. One Day you can take a deep breath..._

"Mom! I'm ready when you are!" His feet, or cleats I should say, echo all throughout the house like the loudest thunder. Henry makes his appearance in my bedroom doorway with a grin resembling his father's. The big green eyes focus on me curiously as if he's never ever seem anyone fold clothes. With the way I spoil him he probably doesn't know that people even did such a thing.

"Just give me 5 minutes bud. Things have to get done." My son curiously tilts his head and purses his lips.

"No they dont." This boy never ceases to amaze me. I let my grip loosen on his t-shirt. My hands fall into my lap in defeat. I let out a deep breath to keep my sanity and huff,

"Fine, we can go now. Even though we're 10 minutes early and it doesn't seem crazy at all." I ramble more to myself. Henry let's out an adorable laugh and leads the way through our two story home.

The first thing I always do before we leave is the snacks. We can't forget the snacks. The super healthy snack full of electrolytes like Gatorade and apple slices. Lord knows that I'd have a heart attack if my son passes out in the heat, but what could go wrong? It's practice right?

"Alright, bag's all packed. Are you ready?" I question while slipping my phone from my pocket. Henry gives the thumbs up cuing me to click on the timer app.

Even though I have a driveway, I like to parallel park along the sidewalk. It's better this way. Secretly I need the practice and it just became a habit; nobody needs to know that though.

Henry and I finally make it to the front door. There's 20 minutes to spare and it takes 10 to get to the soccer field. Maybe leaving on his own time was a smarter choice than waiting for me to finish folding the basket of clothes.

The summer heat, and the sun, smacks us hard in the face the moment Henry opens the door. His face scrounges and his hands fly up above his eyes to shield his pupils from the sun. I just squint and step up behind him because my hands are pretty full anyways.

"Alright, on your mark...Get set...Go!" Henry dashes full speed down the stair and past the drive way. I swear his run is the most adorable thing ever. There's this waddle added to it since his legs aren't fully developed yet. I mean he's just a kid, that's all you can expect from him. His ambition; however, with throw any adult by surprise. I've never met any kid as determined at my son and fully confident in himself. He works so hard that he literally get's two seconds faster every other week.

"45 seconds!" I call out. My son pumps his hands and cheers out in victory like he's won a championship. Seriously, this boy makes me the proudest mom in the world.

"Mom, we've got to tell coach. Maybe he'll put me on offense this year?" The car engine roars to life as I turn the key. I don't like to raise Henry's hopes for nothing so all I can say to him is,

"Telling someone something and proving it is two different things Henry. Always stand by your word. Show coach that you're worthy enough to be on offense." As I drive down the street I take a quick moment to see my son's reaction through the rear view mirror. That boy hardly ever removes that cheeky grin from his face.

"I'll stand by my word you'll see." He confirms with a firm nod.

We make it with just 6 minutes to spare before practice starts. Henry doesn't waste a second when he get's out of the car. I round the front and hand him his snack bag. In return, he races across the field to his friends after saying his goodbye.

Naturally I'd love to stay, but being the very truthful person that my son is, he told me he didn't want me too. Part of me believes that he's a growing boy and becoming embarrassed with his mother, but he told me otherwise. Apparently he feels uneasy inside from knowing I watch him. So during his practice I find something else for me to do and then I sneak back when there's about 15 minutes left.

"They're growing up so fast aren't they?" The familiar voice sounds beside me. I turn to the source, a very tall brunette that any man would fall on their knees for. That man turned out to be my boss.

"Hey Ruby, how's life?" Ruby scrounges her face in thought and follows me to my car.

"It's good, you know, beside the fact that my son is growing right before my eyes, all is great." Not wanting to be rude, I give Ruby a warm smile and wait for her to say anything else that's on her mind. I know she's itching too. Most times she's bashful and not so subtle so I have to give her a little encouragement.

"You want to hang out with dont you?" I grin. She purses her lips and gives the puppy dog eyes. A thing that she has mastered way better than my own kid.

"Was it really that obvious?"

"Oh yes. You look like your skin is crawling." We share a laugh together before getting into Ruby's car. I told her I hadn't really planned on doing anything, so whatever we were doing it's her call.

I find myself getting out to face her granny's famous diner. It's always the one stop of the town. Nobody can resist her milkshakes or apple pies, but I'm in the mood for a nice greasy grill cheese sandwich.

The only thing I hat about this place is the doorbell announcing your presence. In this town, every knows each other literally, so the little bell grants you unwanted attention. Well for some of us. Ruby on the other hand,

"Granny! I need a strawberry shake stat!" She calls out obnoxious, meanwhile I'm shriveling up in my skin. How more embarrassing can you be Rubes?

"If you don't quit disturbing my customers I'll shove your face in it!" Granny snaps angrily with a stern scowl. It doesn't bother Ruby at all because she's used to it. If this woman were my granny I'd probably piss my pants from that look alone.

My closest friend takes a seat at the counter so I accompany her. My eyes immediately glances down to the menu "Are they here?" Ruby asks.

I don't look up to show how nosy I am. Instead, I just keep my ears tuned in while multitasking on what my tongue is requesting for the evening.

"Yes they are here, Laya's been helping me in the kitchen all morning." Granny sounds as if she's trying to rub this Laya person in Ruby's face. _I wonder who Laya could be..._

My wishes come true. The door that leads to the kitchen opens to reveal a girl around 15. Her long raven hair is curled to perfection and her brown eyes still holds the innocence that most teenagers no longer have at this age.

"One milkshake for the most annoying person in the world." The girl teases with a big grin. Ruby squeals as the girl sets the drink down. She leans over the counter and pulls the younger brunette into a a death like hug. I'm assuming this is Laya.

"Hey Em, this is my niece Laya. Laya, my best friend Emma." The girl gives me a very kind smile and hold out her hand.

"God bless you for dealing with her. I don't known how you do it." This girl is cute and funny. Props to whoever raised her.

"Hey! We get it already." Ruby playfully scolds and swat Laya's arm.

"So," I question after a short pause of silence. "What brings you to StoryBrooke?"

"Well, it's not a permanent thing. My mom and I just came to visit for the summer. I think it'll be good for us." For second there, I see pain in Laya's eyes yet there's hope. Is something wrong with her mom? She also never mentioned a dad so maybe that's what's causing her grief.

"It will be champ, trust me you two will forget about all your worries before you go back home. I'll make sure of it." Ruby concludes. The happy bright smile is back on Laya's face instantly. It's so contagious, it fills my heart. Without even thinking about what I'm about to do, my mouth decides to utter,

"Me too. Maybe I can bring you to work with me...well if you mom will allow it." Laya's eyes goes big with excitement. As if Granny were her mother, she turns to her with a pleading look.

"Emma here is the town's deputy. I don't see why it wouldn't be safe for you to go Laya." Granny confirms. With that the old woman leaves for the back. Laya looks back to me with a even bigger smile (I didn't know it could get any bigger) and she leans against the counter.

"Your job must be so cool! You catch robbers and stuff right?" Part of me wonders what a girl like this would be so excited for. She looks like she'd rather hang out on the beach to perfect her tan and stare at the hot life guard posted a few feet away. That goes to show to never judge a book by its cover.

"Yea I do it. But you'll really love is the town drunk. Every single week he gets drunk and it's pretty funny!" I inform. Laya chuckles and pulls out her phone from her apron. Truthfully, we completely forgot that Ruby had been sitting next to us and listening. When I look at her, her face holds an amused grin, so I focus my attention back to Laya.

"I want to be forensic scientist after college." She informs. That's very very ambitious and she seems determined about it too, "Can I have your number,so you can like give me the deets?"

Part of me wonders why she would need my number when I can just tell her what time to expect me right now. Something tells me that this girl has more planned up her sleeve. Maybe she just wants to make a friend? Either way, I give her my number with no problem at all.

Ruby, Laya, and I converse for what seems like forever while we ate. I learned so much about Laya, like she's a gymnast and she plays soccer! Henry would love her. What appears to be a girl who loves to listen to pop and fan girl in her bedroom, Laya listens to rock bands and spends her free time taking pictures. Forensic scientists needs a good eye so that suits her. She's like the perfect daughter.

"Alrighty L, we have to pick up our kids from soccer practice." And that concludes our very amusing conversation with a teenage girl. Laya whimpers, but a smile forms on her face still. She gives Ruby a hug first, and to my surprise, she gives me one as well.

"See you guys tomorrow."

Hunter and Henry are the best of friends just as Ruby and I have always been. They usually play alone and not with the other kids. Henry says it's because the other boys are bigger than them, which is understandable. Henry and Hunter are still a little small for their age. The other kids seem to be skyrocketing in height.

"Hey mom! I worked really hard like you said and coach even told me I did great today!" Henry rambles as we make our way to the car. His excitement is always contagious so I inevitably feel for the boy.

"That's awesome kid! Offense soon?"

"Offense soon." He concludes with a firm nod. The click of his seatbelt has always been my cue to start the car and take us back home.

"How was your day?" He asks. _Oh why are you so adorable kid?_ I mean seriously he's such a sweetheart.

"It was great kid. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be a good one."


	2. Chaper Two

It's going to be a great summer indeed...

The bed dips for just a second it stops. The dipping becomes more frequent until it stirs me out of my sleep.

I force my eyes to peer open finding my sun grinning right in my face. _It must be sunday..._

Every Sunday, Henry wakes me up precisely 7:30 am. Its a ritual we have.

"Its Sunday ma. Rise and shine!" The boy encourages. I sip up yet he remains over top of me just incase I cave and decide to fall back down. Man do I want to sleep for at least five more minutes, but Sundays are big days in the Swan's home.

"Alright kid, lets do this." I challenge. Henry climbs out of my bed with me following behind. Together we go to my bathroom first and brush our teeth together. We are the kind of people who tends to find anything boring, so we make everything as fun as we can.

"Eaw pewawo soop." He giggles and starins all the same. I spit out the sudsy toothpaste and take a moment to think. There's only a minute left on the timer so I have to hurry.

"Uhhhh...eat potato soup?" I question. Henry then stops his scrubbing and spits out his suds as well. That lip thumb props up in conformation granting me one more point for this game. I have to get as many right as I can before the two minutes are up. If I beat Henry's score from last week, which I never can, I get a overall point for the day.

As expected, I don't beat his high score of 6. _One day Swan, one day._

"Mom! What should we play today?!" He questions referring to the music. After the teeth brushing game we start our chores and jam out to music as loud as we can.

Quickly, I tie my hair into a bun and race down the stairs to meet Henry in the kitchen with the ipod in hand. For a minute we both sit there and wonder what song would be perfect enough to start off our day.

"How about mash mouth!" That's actually not a bad idea.

"All stars it is!" I declare with much enthusiasm. I'm not usually a morning person but I force that bubbly side to surface for Henry's sake. I want him to wake up to positivity every day and I want him to get used to setting that vibe for himself. He's been pretty good with it.

There were times when my son had been bullied at school. I started noticing him slipping away between my fingers and frowning from the moment he woke up and came back home from school. I couldn't let him lose himself or forget who he is just because of what some little brats says to him.

Now, my son wakes up every morning with something to look forward too. During the week it's either stories or inspirational quotes from inspirational people and on Sundays its the Sunday Swan olympics. I let him win most times but not too much to ruin himself esteem. My son is really smart and he'll start to notice something is up if he wins every single week.

The electric guitars begin to play the opening song reminding us that we have three minutes. Three minutes to pick a room and clean it up. If we are to finish that room we could move on to the next one. When the song is over, we judge the rooms together and rally up the points.

Henry races up the stairs, most likely to his bedroom. It's a smart move he always makes. He'll know where everything in his room belongs so he could just easily put away and skip off to his bathroom. I; however, decide to stay downstairs. The bigger the room, the more points. This game will also help me make a habit of cleaning up faster with ease.

First is the dining room. The table is always messy sometimes. There's moments where Henry and I forget to clean after one another. So, I rush to the broom closet and grab the pine sol and a swiffer mop jet to get the job done. It doesn't take long for me to clear the table and the floor.

I then rush off into the living room. There's always stuff all over the place. Things that Henry and I are too lazy to acknowledge at times. Like seriously, there's a couch pillow on the floor from our pillow fight three days ago and neither one of us even bothered to pick it up!

I dispose cups and other items that don't belong. I also sure to dig between the couch cushions in search for gifts from the couch god. Believe me when I say that one of the gifts is a spoon. There's even a few pens and pencils as well.

The last thing I am able to do is vacuum the floor. Just as I did in the dining room, I jam out as I do this. I don't know what it is about floors or the objects you clean them with, but the combination brings out my inner rockstar. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's like this.

The song end, more like two songs. Henry then comes racing down the stairs with a very confident look on his face, "prepare to be blown away."

I nearly drop to the floor laughing from the deep monotone voice he tried to create. Soon, his voice probably get just like that. It'll definitely break my heart. That only motivates me to cherish any moment with my little boy until he turns into a teenager.

We check the rooms thoroughly together. Henry immediately lost because he shoved everything under his head. _Little bastard..._

Next is the folding that's bow added to our list because I never got around it. We each take one side of my bed with the basket in the middle. Whoever folds the most clothes before when the basket is ready, wins.

"You're not winning this mom. This is all or nothing." I swat away Henry's comment with my head held high. I'm a mom, I'm built for this.

"Oh please Henry, I'm kicking your ass like clockwork on this one." Henry giggles and holds up three fingers;

"On your mark, get set, go!" Like I said, he's pretty smart. The rambunctious boy goes for the socks, even though they's only half a point, but it's quicker to get those done.

I go for as much underwear that I can find which is 1 point. Pants are two, shirts are three, towels are 2 points, and then the blankets and sheets are 5 points.

So far, Henry isn't doing that bad, but I'm doing far greater. My side is filling up with speed. That's good because the basket is almost done. My som and I reach into the basket at the same time, and grab the same towel. He holds out his fist with a smug grin and I hold out mine.

"Rock, paper, scissor, shoot!" We chant out together.

"Nooo! You little cheater!" I wine. I picked the most weakest thing possible: paper. My hopes were high that Henry would pick rock, but he obviously didn't.

The ten year old laughs and takes the shirt away from me in triumph. Sometimes I think his accomplishments makes him feel like some sort of prince, but I'm not going to comment on it. He's living his best life and I will let nothing take that away from him.

"I can't believe you won today. My winning streak is over." Henry playfully huffs. I flash him a smile over my shoulder and return to flipping pancakes.

"Well, Kid. Sometimes its hard to top a future sheriff." The sound of his feet shuffling het's closer and closer until he is standing right beside me and observing our cinnamon pancakes with deep hunger in his eyes. My heart goes out o him because boy am I hungry too.

One great thing about Henry is that he's also a little chef. Yes, there are many kids his age, even younger, cooking 5 star dishes like it's as simple as putting icing on the cake. Henry had been inspired by the young kids on master chef jr at the age of 5. He begged and begged for me to teach him.

I can admit that I nearly had a heart attack and feared for our lives and this home, but we started off small. First I taught him how to measure things and crack eggs. Once he mastered baking things on his own, he learned how to come up things. Today, he minces with speed (something I can hardly do). Then came the stove.

Henry knows how to cook everything I know and then some. I told Granny about his talent, so every Friday he get's to work in the kitchen with her. It makes me wonder if this is his ultimate life goal. He never actually told me what he wanted to be when he grows up.

No biggy, that's a matter to address later. "Alright kid, the pancakes are ready. Henry scrambles around the kitchen to find the nearest plat. He stands at a distance and plants his feet for what's to come. "Let's try to be your score. The goal is 10 pancakes."

"Ten pancakes?! I can't catch ten pancakes!" He gasps in horror. And this is the moment where I teach my son life lesson's.

"If you give it your all you will surprise yourself Henry. By saying you can't, you're speaking it into existence so only speak positive things." Henry nods in understanding and begins to mumble to himself over and over: I got this, I can do it. _That's my boy!_

"Alright, 1...2...3!" I flip the pancake and don't look back. I want him to surprise me.

"Wooo!" He cheers out with glee for himself. That's my cue to flick another pancake, and another, and another, I flick them all until there's none left.

Slowly and anxiously, I turn to see what damage my son has done or home many pancakes he has wasted this time. When he does miss the catch, I save them for my dad to take back to the animal shelter.

My heart fill with so much excitement from finding that my son caught all 20 pancakes. At some point he grabbed another plate to catch the other half, "Awesome sauce!" I cheer out with opened hands. Henry high fives them strength as strong as his confidence and proceeds to the stove.

"How do you think they he wants his eggs ma?" Henry questions.

"Sunny side." Inform without a thought. That's how my father always eats his eggs.

"Definitely sunny side." While Henry cooks away with the bacon and eggs, I proceed to set the dining table. Dad sits at the head, me to his right, and Henry to his left. I place out the butter, the bowl of fruit salad, and the syrup in the middle of our set up for anyone's use.

The door bell rings, 9:45 just as expected and right on time. I rush hurriedly to meet the man of the hour. Of course when I open the door he's got a shopping bag of goodies and a warm smile on his face.

"Bring it in champ." He greets with opened arms. That was a big mistake. Assuming that he'd give me a hug, my dad puts me in a strong choke hold and begins to tickle my sides. My muscles cramp up and forces a laugh from the tingling fillings dancing inside of me. I hate the feeling of being tickled so much; that's why he did it.

"Uncle! Uncle!" I wheeze and tap frantically on the ouse like my life depends on it, because it does. I was coming close to dying with every before he let me go.

"Where's my favorite grandson?" He questions.

" _Only_ grandson.. he's inside making your eggs." Dad hungrily licks his lips and steps in side.

"Ohhh it smells great in here. It reminds me of home." He states ever so confidently. I wish he hadn't said it at all. I know what he means by it, he's talking about mom.

My parents had me at a very young age. They were both 17 and treated me like the best thing in the world. Growing up I was raised to be kind and optimistic. I will easily admit hat I'm very stubborn but I gain that trait from the both of them and take pride in it. I was happy, the happiest girl in the world until one day my mother was ripped away from my life.

I was nine years old and waiting for her to pick me up from school. Of course I assumed she forgot about me, so I deemed myself brave enough to walk myself home. My mistake right? I probably should've called dad, but I was young and thought nothing of it.

When I did get home, the house was empty. Odd as it may be but mom would be here if she forgot about me, which has happened sometimes. My dad was the sheriff back then, so he was at work doing what he loved.

So I called and called out to her over and over. I searched every room in my home until the last was the bathroom. I swear I blanked out that day. There was my mom, her lifeless body completely submerged under water.

Then, I knew what suicide was because the schools talked about bullying all of the time and the consequences that comes with them, but I didn't think my mom would do such a thing. She was too happy, we were all too happy.

She was too heavy for me to pull out of the water, i guess it was water weight from her soaking in there for a while, so I rushed to her bedroom, grabbed her phone and called dad. It was hard for me to even speak, just the fact that I had been choking over the phone gave him the impression that something was wrong, so he rushed home.

He found mom and panicked just as I did. Neither one of us shed a tear, I guess from the shock. Honestly I hoped with all my heart that it was a dream and that someone would pinch me; and that someone would be my mom.

We found the next day that mom passed out from her anemia and she drowned. What a horrible way to go and a worse time for her to pass out. She's always maintained control of her anemia and went to doctors, took pills. I guess that day she forgot too, just like I thought she forgot to pick me up from school.

'Home' coming from my dad's lips has more meaning. Our happy family always took pride in our home. We loved the smell of mom's home cooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We took pride in our stupid cheesy moments even when nobody was around but us. Home.

In my teenage years I lost myself. I felt cold and heartless, but that all changed when I had Henry at 18. He brung the brightness back to my day and my father mother me to be the mother that I've had; the best mom I can be.

"Mmmm, this looks great Henry." Dad compliments. Henry says his thank you's and digs right in without another word. He won't be saying anything for a while.

"So, Emma how's work this week?" He asks. I swallow my fluffy pancake and prepare to story tell to my dad.

"It's been great. This week has been easy, there was only Leroy to meddle with." Dad chuckles knowing those days. I don't think the town drunk will ever learn his lesson.

"Did I tell you about the time he ended up on a roof and started screaming to the world that he can tight rope walk across the telephone line." Henry and I nearly choked on our food from the laughter brewing deep.

"No way!" Henry giggles but dad nods in confirmation.

"Yes way. It was during my final years as sheriff. The only way to convince Leroy to come back down was by climbing up there and taking his flask. He chased me back down the side of the house like a ninja warrior! It was like he wasn't drunk anymore."

"It's amazing what addiction can do to one's brain." I chuckle. Dad hums in agreement and bites into a peace of his turkey bacon.

I take this moment to look at my phone, expecting many texts from Ruby and maybe some others. My screen glows with the pending messages, but one and particular catches my eyes. It's one from an unknown number and was sent at 6am in the morning. _Who the hell wakes up that early?!_

- **Hey! It's Laya and I just wanted to tell you that I had fun yesterday. Its great to meet new people. Sorry if I seem like a pest.**

Awww she's so cute. Part of me can't help but wonder why she does seem a little obsessive. This new girl in town is very mysterious. Or I could just be thinking about it too hard. Maybe she's just lonely for all I know.

 **Me: it's fine Laya, I had fun too. I never thought I'd be friends with a teenager**

I put my phone back down, after saving Selena number, and turn my attention back to my father and son. Before I can even say anything, my phone pings. I sneak a peak to find that Laya texted back immediately. Okay...

"New love interest?" I face my dad with furrowed eyebrows. His wicked grin makes me feel uneasy and I go to full defense mode.

"God, oh god no! Ruby's niece moved into town." I inform, but that's not enough for my dad to change his mind, "she's 15." I emphasize.

"Oh!" The man chuckles awkwardly and rubs his neck earning laughter from Henry. The two men begin to converse again about star wars. I know nothing about star wars so I decide now would be a good time to look at my phone.

 **\- Ruby told me to tell you to stop by the diner after your son leaves with his grandpa. She says that she has a big day planned for us today**

 **Me- are you nervous**

 **-just a little bit I think you'd understand why**

 **Me-will your mom be joining us?**

The bubbles, a sign that she is typing, taunts me just a little bit. I'm hoping she'd say yes but the bubbles disappear all together. So many questions begin to unravel in my mind at that point.

I push them back long enough to get through breakfast, but they come tumbling back after Henry and my dad leaves me to clean up the dishes. Well, I insisted that they leave.

With speed, I get everything done so I can rush to the diner and find out what happened with Laya. I don't, know for some reason I have a bond with this girl. I know I just met her yesterday but it feels like I've know her for a while now; odd as it may seem.

The dinner is always crowded on Sundays so finding a parking spot became a pain in my ass. I literally had to park a block away. _What was the point of me even driving then. You should've just walked._

My body bumps right into another body. It's what I get for rambling to myself like I always do. Sometimes I just can't help but be stuck in my head, but the victim didn't deserve it.

"I'm so sorry." I plead. The familiar texture of raven hair is covering a face to the body of woman. If this woman's hair were longer, I'd think she were Laya especially when she wipes away the shoulder length locks to reveal the strong resemblance. The eyebrows, the lips, the forehead even. Laya looks just like her! The teen's face is a little chunkier but that's literally the only difference.

"Are you alright?" The woman questions with full concern. I shake away my fantasies and clear my throat. I'm sure that made the situation even more awkward between us.

"Yes, yes! I'm so sorry for bumping into you. Its just that I get lost in my head and I don't pay attention sometimes–" The woman interrupts me with an adorable chuckle that I think that I just fell in love with. I think that gorgeous smile has something to do with it. And then there's the way that her eyes sparkle when she smiles. _And you're definitely staring at this woman for far too long!_

"I'm sorry, it's funny because we were both doing the same thing. So, I guess we're both at fault here." I let out a sigh of relief but find my self rocking nervously on my feet. "What's your name kind stranger?"

"Oh, sorry! I'm Emma Swan." I hold out my hand and she takes it without hesitation.

"Im Lana Parrilla, its great meeting you. Are headed to the diner?" She questions curiously.

"Yes actually I was meeting up with Ruby and your daugh–"

"Mama! There you are! Dios Mio I have been looking all over for you!" Laya races up beside her mom and possessively locks her mother's arm in her's. I find it very odd and so does Lana who seems heavily confused.

"Laya, I was just going for a walk honey. I promise I'm not running away." Lana teases. She scrounges her face adorably and presses her nose against a panting Laya. I also notice how relieved the girl became in that very moment. _What the hell is happening?_

"Alright well we should get back to the diner? Maybe help out granny for a little while?" Laya questions. It's like she's pressuring her mom. I'm desperately trying to figure out why she's talking to her mom like this. It's almost like she is the mom and her mother is a stubborn five year old who doesn't get spankings so the only way she'd listen is if she'd get bribed or something.

"Pfft. That's sounds so boring, how about we make granny whip us up a few cheeseburgers for lunch." Lana suggests. Laya frantically nods her head, I guess she'll agree to anything to get her mom to turn back around. "You should join us Emma."

Laya gives me a warm smile that looks just like her mother's entirely. How can I say no to those precious faces?

"Okay, sure." I shrug. Laya leads her mother back to the diner as if the woman can't walk on her own. I just saw her walking perfectly fine.

Once again, the doorbell dings to announce our arrival. A few eyes in the full space gives curious glances, but the most attention we get is from granny and Ruby themselves. They race toward us with so much concern that I'm a grain salt away from asking a million questions.

"What's the matter with you girl! You had us worried sick!" Granny scolds yet cups Lana's cheeks with so much love and relief. _What the hell?!_

Lana furrows her eyebrows. Her eyes flick from Granny's down to her daughter and on the other side of her daughter in confusion.

"What the hell is wrong with you three? I only took a walk." She ensures, "You know, I wanted to get a little feel of the town. I even met a new possible friend."

Ruby and Granny's glances follows Regina's pointing towards me. They both give me big forced smiles and quickly turn their attention back to Lana. I so badly want to ask things but maybe this is just how their family works. Maybe they do this all too each other and it's best for me to refrain from being nosy this time.

"Yea but you could of told someone." Ruby defends. You just walked right out of bed without a simple hello or anything.

"Well you were too busy with the diner and I didn't want to intrude. Now, can I have a cheeseburger?" I tried so hard to hold in my laughter. The way Lana said it in a monotone voice was hilarious. Even Laya is straining to keep it down her throat.

"Yea ye, just sit down somewhere and I'll get you one." Granny groans. Lana quickly pecks granny's cheek. To my surprise, the woman is grabbing my wrist and dragging me to the farthest vacant booth.

"Could you believe them? They treat me like I'm sort of baby. I'm 37 for crying out loud!" _Holy hell! She looks like she's my age._ "Sorry you had to witness that. They can be very annoying."

Its very evident that Laya get's her lack of subtlety from her mother. "It's alright, do they do that to you often?"

Lana sits back in her seat in thought. Seconds go by and she's still thinking about it. I don't think one should have to think about this for too long. Maybe she's so used to it that she hadn't notice it before and I only noticed it today because I was around and it embarrassed her?

The older brunette shrugs and taps her bare nails on the table top. Her eyes are just piercing at me and the fact makes my skin burn. The awkward tension between us rises and I have absolutely no idea of what to do.

"Here's our cheeseburgers mom." Laya announces and slides in beside her mother. _Thank goodness for you Laya!_

"Yummy!" Lana cheers out adorable. I can's help but stare at the excitement in her beautiful brown eyes.

"Soo..." she trails to signal the start of small talk. I find her way easier to talk to than her mother. I know it's weird but her mom seems a little out of it, like she's in her own little bubble right now. "How did everyone sleep?"

"Great. I always sleep great knowing I get to wake up to my love muffin." Laya blushes, but still let's her mother peck her forehead. It leaves a red lipstick paint behind on Laya's forehead but the teenager hardly cares. Or she just doesn't know that it's there.

"What about you? I know your son had to wake you up early." Laya teases.

"You have a son?! How old is he." Lana quickly questions. I immediately get the impression that she adores children with just that look alone. Her eyes went completely big.

"He's ten and his name is Henry. Sundays are always an adventure for us, but I made sure to get enough sleep in." I tell them. Laya swallows her food and says,

"Maybe one day we can go to the park and I can play soccer with him?"

"Well I'm coming too. I'd love to meet him. I'm sure he's adorable." Lana compliments. She's really really nice. I like her!

"He is, thanks. So, what were was Ruby planning?" Laya's eyes goes big. She nervously shifts under her seat which may be because Lana is looking at us curiously.

"You guys were planning something? Without me? Man that hurts." She playfully whimpers.

"No no, mom. It was just a trick to get Emma to come here and now she's here." Laya lies through her teeth. But knowing Ruby, it might not been a lie. Or maybe Laya lied; not to her mom but to me. I am so confused about life at this point.

"Oh, well I'm glad you did it. Emma seems like the perfect first acquaintance."

"Yea! And she's the deputy mom! She's letting me go to work with her tomorrow!" Laya cheers out. It's like she's 5 all over again; it's so adorable.

"That's amazing mijah. Did you thank Emma for promising this experience?" Laya turns her attention to me again and says,

"Thank you Emma."

"No no, it's fine. It's no biggy." I shrug. Both Lana and Laya gives me their big precious smiles once again.

I guess we really weren't going anywhere because we talked for hours before Lana decided that she needed to go back to her room and handle some things. Laya decided to accompany her. That gave Ruby the opportunity to slide into the booth with a huge smile on her face.

"So. Did you like her?" She questions?

"Who?" Duh I know who she's talking about, but after talking to Lana for so long and watching her bond with her daughter, I think I may have developed a crush. Definitely a crush that should be hidden from Ruby.

"Lana silly. She's really pretty isn't."

"Yeaaaa..." I trail in a fantasy like haze.

"You know, _she's_ bi. But don't tell her I told you." Ruby whispers.

"Get out! No way! She's into girls?" I whisper back and lean in a little closer. I know it's wrong to dig up dirt about the woman I just met but who could blame me. Call it obsessive if you will.

"Yea, there was this one girl she was deeply in love with name Alex, but Alex is gone now. Lana has dated since her and that was like 5 years ago." Ruby informed.

"Alex really hurt her that badly?" I frown. That must suck. Maybe Lana is depressed! Maybe that's why they were so scared that she was alone! Swan you genius!

"I mean, truthfully, Lana is a tough cookie. She was married to this one guy for about two years and was deeply in love with him too. She battled it out, but there are other reasons that she hasn't dated that I can't tell you about." I pout hating that there's so many mysteries to Lana that I don't know about and I wish I did.

Maybe one day I'll find out. Just not today I suppose.


	3. Chapter Three

"Mama come on, it's time to get up!" I call out. I wonder why she lied to Emma. My mom used to be a morning person. For the past three years she sleeps all day, in the dark, and watches tv at night. That's literally her every day schedule and has been since I was 12 and that slut left us behind.

My mom stirs in her bed and forces the covers over her head to ignore me. I declared yesterday, after seeing how happy my mom was, that I should start forcing her out of bed. This will be better for her. Like she said before, a summer here could be a good refresher for us. It definitely has been for me because the universe planted Emma Swan right at our feet.

"Why must you pester me child!" She groans out. I let out a heavy sigh and snatch the covers away from her, leaving her no choice but to sit up in bed with a cranky smile on her face. I then make my way over to her bed and snatch open the curtains. The fact that she hisses a little is cause of concern.

"What are you trying to blind me?!" She snaps angrily. Again, I sigh out my pain. Every day my heart breaks a little just from seeing her like this. I can never tell her? How can I when she wouldn't understand? Everyday she forgets before and there's also...

"Mama, what is your name?" I ask like I do everyday.

"What are you asking me that for? Why do I have to tell you every morning that my name is Regina."

The sound of the doorbell on a Monday is music to my ears. The diner is fairly empty, and warm coffee is just screaming my name. I wonder if Laya is ready for a big day. I texted her last night and when I woke up but there was no answer.

But, speak of the devil, the girl comes from the back kitchen with her camera hanging around her neck and her book bag hugging her back. She slipped her hair up into a ponytail as well. She's definitely ready.

"Granny says you like your coffee with a dose of diabetes and big fluffy diabetes cake to follow." The teen teases as she holds out the coffee and a paper brown bag.

"Well, when you become a scientist, I'll let you be the judge of that." Laya chuckles and meets me from behind the counter.

"Sorry for not texting you back. I was so caught up with so many things–" I had to stop her right there. Yes, I was worried, but she doesn't have to explain herself to me.

"Don't worry about it, seriously. Now, are you ready to meet the drunk?" Laya frantically shakes her head and follows me out of the diner to my bug.

"This car is the most adorably weird thing I've ever seen!" She laughs. I fake grab at my heart and unlock the car door with my key.

"I feel highly offended." I whimper.

"Don't be, I like it." With that, she gets in the car to leave me stuck in thought. Just her kindness alone reminds me of her mother. I literally had a dream about Lana last night, so I couldn't help but question Laya when I started driving. Maybe She would tell me something.

"So, your mom told me she was a morning bird. How come I didn't see her today? Does she help around the diner?" I ask. I notice a sudden change of Laya's demeanor from my questions, maybe I hit a nerve and should back down. Just when I decided on telling her she didn't have to answer, she giggles a little and shifts in her seat.

"Mama's a great cook. She's better than granny, even granny admits so." She informs. Her face seems out of this world though, as if she's reminiscing into story telling.

"Really?! Maybe she can cook for me and Henry one day." I tease. Laya shrugs and mumbles,

"She'd love that." Then she clears her throat and says, "Mama would lose her mind working in the diner though. She has OCD and would probably turn the diner into Lana's land." Laya and I share a laugh together before she turns to me in admiration.

"Your mom sounds great Laya. And given by her personality, I'd say you're a lucky girl." To my surprise, Laya only shrugs in response.

"Her personality..." she repeats, almost darkly. I swear for a second that something possessed her and can only wonder why. I really want to know more about her mom but I can see now, that talking about the woman is triggering her and slowly eating away at her sanity, so instead I go,

"So, it is a Monday. Usually Mondays are quiet here in StoryBrooke but our forces are also merged with Hyperion Heights and something always happens there." And just like that, Laya is back to her normal bubbly self.

"Where's Hyperion Heights?" She asks with pure excitement.

"It's the next town north from here...well, its a city but you get my point."

"Relax Em! We've got this!" She cheers out. Em... My mom used to calm me Em. Instead of it making me sad from the reminder, my heart fills a little more and it's for this teenager sitting right beside me. This may sound cheesy, but I think my mom may have sent Laya into my life as an early birthday gift. Maybe I needed a change and Laya is the key to that.

Truthfully, I have been living on autopilot for so long. Everything I do now is out of habit. I've imprisoned myself in a world of routine thinking that maybe it'll make life easier for me and maybe there would be a lesser chance that I'd have to acknowledge the rest of the world. Meeting Laya has opened my eyes just a little. She's so much like me or what could have been me at her age.

"Emma? Are you even listening to me?" I pull up the police station and guiltily glance at the rambunctious Laya. Her lips are pursed into a scowl but her eyes hold playfulness. Try as she might, her lips are curling just a little despite her efforts to spite that smile.

"I'm sorry Laya. Fair warning, I tend to get lost in my head." I admit shyly. Laya chuckles and goes,

"My mom is like that all of the time. Trust me I'm used to it by now."

I remember Lana telling me that. How can I forget Lana telling me that? Also, by the looks on Laya's face, there's more meaning behind what she said. This girl may be bubbly, but there's always a way she looks at me. It's full of sorrow or admiration...something. Deep inside, I think she's begging me to save her; but save her from what?

"Emma! Come on let's go!" She snaps in my face. Closing my eyes to snap out of my trance, I then lead the way to the station door. "Hi uncle Graham!"

Graham turns away from one of his employees and gives Laya a big smile, "I see you've met Emma."

"Yea!" She beams with pride, "Emma is awesome."

Graham nods his head in agreement, causing me to blush bashfully over the exaggerated comments. He gives me a swift pat on my shoulder and motions for us to follow him into his office. I definitely feel uneasy. He could be upset for bringing her for all I know. It's not like I ever told him.

"So," he begins with motions with his hand. Laya takes that as her uncle's way of telling us to sit, so she does impatiently, and I follow suit. "You picked the adventurous day to bring Laya here?"

"Is there a homicide somewhere?" My face always scrounges at that word and that look always makes Graham laugh. That word seems to catch Laya's attention and now she's on the edge of her seat.

"No no, the opposite actually. There's a chain of robberies happening in Hyperion Heights's main stores. This guy is hiding his tracks pretty well and he knocks out surveillance cameras before he strikes."

Thats so frustrating. I'd rather take a homicide than this. If this guy is cleaning his tracks, how the hell am I supposed to find him? And it would literally take weeks for me to do so if Hyperion Heights needed us to help.

"This is cool Emma!" Laya beams.

"But! First I need you to go out on patrol until your lunch." Graham winks. Laya whines as if she has to really do anything and rolls her eyes. I see Lana all in her face when she does that, even though I've never actually seen the beautiful Lana roll her eyes before.

Just as Laya and I begin to leave, Graham stops me and pulls me back into the room. I give Laya that everything is okay before closing the door behind me. Graham looks to me curiosity with a cocked head that makes me feel even more at unease that previously.

"Did you...ummm...did you ever get a chance to meet my sister?" He questions. I am a very observant person and I have noticed that every time Lana is spoken of everyone either instantly becomes depressed or looks concerned for her well being Graham.

"I have...is there something wrong I should no about Graham? Seriously, you can tell me!" I urge. Graham shakes his head firmly and rests his arms on his hips. Maybe he and his sister had a falling out?

"It's not my place to say...well it is but maybe someday Laya will tell you when she's ready."

Graham left me to wallow in my thoughts after saying that. It makes me feel like something is really wrong with Lana. What if she's dying?! How the hell am I going to find out!

"Hey! Emma! Yoo hoo!" Laya screams and waves her arms in my face. Realizing I have been driving on autopilot for a while now, I pull over by the park to take a little break from this torture.

"What's going on? I know I've only known you for three days, but you aren't yourself." She points out. I look this little girl deeply in her beautiful brown eyes, desperately wanting to know why she forces a smile every day when she's literally dying inside.

"It's nothing...let's take a lunch break at the park?" I suggest. The teen looks out of her window and takes a second to come up with an answer. I wonder why.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how Alex and I went to the park all of the time. But yea! I can get great shots." She enthuses. Quickly she grabs her back pack and slides out of the cruiser. I quickly follow behind to ask some questions that maybe she'd be willing to answer.

"Wait, who's Alex?" I ask. Laya looks up to me with furrowed brows and sets her backpack by the trunk of a willow tree. I can tell she's struggling to let out her inner feelings and thoughts. This entire day she's been vague. "Laya, you can tell me anything. I promise that I'm always here for you."

I look her deeply in her eyes to show that I mean it. Laya completely believes in me. Her eyes fill with tears that screams hope is still left behind in her shattered heart. She takes in a deep unsteady breath and wipes away her eyes to prepare for story telling.

"Umm, Alex is my other mom, but I just like to call her slut because she left us behind." Laya shrugs.

"Why? Who would want to leave behind the two most precious girls behind?" Laya grins at me and begins to stare off at the huge lake sitting a few miles ahead of us. I watch carefully and quietly, not wanting to pressure her, as she lifts her camera at eyes level and takes a perfect shot.

"Everyone always leaves us behind Emma. Even my dad left my mom when he found out she was pregnant with me." That fucking sucks! I just can't seem to understand why evil people do evil things to the most beautiful people in the world. Laya is so precious and Regina is breathtakingly gorgeous. They're like the perfect family.

"Laya, I'm so sorry." I rub my hand across her back to help sooth her, but she looks like she doesn't need it. Mother Nature seems to be doing that for her given by the way she's staring at it.

"So...when I was 5 mom met Alex. They raised me together until I was 12. Alex left us, she said she couldn't physically handle my mother anymore so she left us without ever looking back." Laya finally looks up with me and gives me a small cheeky smile as if she should be happy about what happened in her past. Maybe she's growing to accept it in this very moment, but what I do know is that no child should go through things like that. This girl is stronger than I'll ever be.

"You know, I really like your mom, if that helps." Laya's eyes go big, yet her lip twitches a little as if she doesn't trust a word that I am saying. I guess I'll have to prove it to her.

"Really?" She questions suspiciously. I nod my head and sit beside her backpack. She falls down beside me with a thump and hugs her knees against her chest like it makes her feel more safer to be in this cruel world.

"Really, I'm serious. But is there something wrong with her? You can tell me Laya." Again, I struck a nerve. Laya gives me the most heartbreaking look before staring off into the grass below us. She hugs her legs closer to her chest and rests her chin upon her knees.

"I can't tell you, I don't want it to change the way you look at her..." she mumbles.

"Is it that bad?" She frantically nods her head. A sniffle follows to show that she's on the verge of crying and that this topic is too much for her. "She...doesn't know who she is." That completely took me by surprise. I attempt to open my mouth to say something else but she then says, "That's all I'll tell you for now."

Everything goes silent. Laya begins to mindlessly pick at the grass while I try to find the meaning behind her words. She doesn't know who she is...

"Well, can't we help her remember?" I then ask. Laya looks at me and scoffs before focusing right back down to her mindless grass picking.

"I wish...it's not that easy Emma." She sounds like she gave up hope a long time ago. I don't want her to lose hope or the last bit of happiness she has left. I'm vowing to myself, right here and right now, that I'll do whatever I can to help fix Lana and Laya. That's what they came here for, a fresh start, so thatMa what they're going to get.

"I may not know how extreme this is, but Im a very forgetful person too because I've been through alot and seem to always be stuck in my head." Laya chuckles and says,

"Yea, I've noticed." I playfully shove her away which earns a more sincere laugh.

"Anyways, to keep my brain focused, I forced myself to live my life by daily routine. Maybe if you do that with your mom, no matter what, she'd probably get better and more focused." Laya tilts her head and thinks about it for a moment.

"Hmm, I never thought about that for a moment, but its more complicated than that." She informs. I scrounge my face and shrug my shoulders.

"What if I told you that I want to ask her out on a date, will that force you to stop being so vague?" Laya quickly sits up on her knees with pure shock on her face. Has her mom really stopped dating for this long?

"You can't ask her out on a date Emma." Laya urges.

"What? Why?"

"Because everyday mom wakes up as a new person with a clean slate. Her memories are all over the place, so if you speak to her today, she probably doesn't even remember who you are."


	4. Chapter Four

_I take in a steady breath before I even think of unlocking this door. My whole life will change in the blink of an eye, from the very moment I step inside. It's what I have to face hat scares me, because she doesn't know who am I and I hardly know her anymore. The only fact that remains is that we love each other so much deep inside, we always have._

 _The familiar feel of the door creaking effortlessly open, relaxes me just a little. I expect silence because mom prefers silence. Instead, the music is blaring. The shredding of the guitar hurts my ears and so does her singing along. This isn't mom not today, sadly._

 _"Oh! You're home!" She stumbles in the foyer with attire she only wears when she feels like this. A bottle of dark liquor is tucked in a death grip and sloshes around with every step she takes._

 _I can help but feel lost for words for her. I've only met her twice and since she has no memory I have to make one up. I always have to make one up; sometimes its hard to keep up with myself._

 _"I do have school remember?" She eyes me from her peripheral vision as her head falls back to guzzle down some more of the torturous poison. I wonder how much she drank, she usually seems immune to it at this point._

 _"Oh right." She chuckles, then her eyebrows furrows , a sign that she's desperately trying to think. "Tell me how we became roommates again?"_

 _Ughhh! I don't even remember myself! "Listen Veronica," i start but she interrupts me by taking a step forward and shoving my chest playfully with her finger,_

 _"Its Roni my dear Laya, dont forget it." Again she slams back the drink once more, finding the need to take a shot every 60 seconds._

 _"Okay, Roni." I quip, "I've had a long day and I don't feel like telling stories right now."_

 _"Fine, can you at least tell me when that stern lady is coming? You know, so I can mentally prepare myself?" Again I sigh and finally take the chance to close the door behind me. She doesn't remember her past life at all, it doesn't matter if she's Regina, Roni, or even herself. Her brain is the most complicated thing on the planet right now. So, complicated that her doctors are desperately trying to find a pattern that's just not there. It's know that the human brain is unpredictable, but mom's is the worst._

 _"Her name is Dolores remember?" Roni looks at me blankly. To many seconds by and it makes me wonder if her brain just put her body on pause altogether. It's absolutely frightening to witness._

 _With a harshly thumping heart, I swallow down the rising bile and take a cautious step forward. Slowly, I move and observe my mom curiously but the anxiety is becoming too over bearing. I then lift my hand slowly to snap her out of it, only to stumble back from being startled._

 _"Laya? Why are you looking at me like that?" Her precious brown eyes slowly gazes at her attire in horror and the bottle that's stuck in her right hand, "I'm so sorry honey, I–"_

 _"It's okay mom, I promise its fine." I'm just relieved that she's back. Roni can be fun but its hard to see my mom being someone she's not against her own will. Her mind has taken full control of herself, that's how I see it. Most days, she remembers that she has psychological issues. Other days she has no clue what Grandma and I are talking about when we bring it up._

 _Mom even scares herself, and sometimes its the most painful thing I ever have to witness._

 _"What's today? What time is it?" She asks curiously. I take mom's hand and slowly lead her into the living room so we can have a talk. The last time she ever woke up as herself was two weeks ago, so I have to investigate and try to stir her memories like the doctors says._

 _Mom shifts nervously in her seat and nibbles at her bottom lip. This nothing but anxiety in her eyes as she stares at me and waits for me to say something._

 _"What did you do yesterday?" I question, feeling like an interrogator and hating that I've taken the role as such._

 _"Uhhh...hmmm..." she hums in thought. Her eyes stares mindlessly at my lap as she thinks. She begins to strain, given by the way her vein pops on her forehead. To my joy she looks up with a big smile and snaps her fingers to express she's remembered something, "We went to the mall and got you this beautiful dress for your winter formal."_

 _My heart shatters harshly inside my chest. Mom has been like this for a few months now so I'm still not used to it. I just want her back, "No, mom that was two weeks ago and the last time you woke up as yourself. Yesterday you were Veronica and you taught me how to make apple tarts." I explain slowly for her better understanding. Mom's face scrounges once again,_

 _"Who's Veronica?" This is so frustrating! I don't know what to do! The questions never stop, my mom never stops forgetting things, I can never have a normal day where I'm not worrying or playing caregiver!_

 _"Veronica, is one of your personalities. Remember what the doctor told you honey?" I feel her soft kind hand on my shoulder as she speaks. My brain screams out in joy but I refrain to show how happy I am to that Grandma saved me from flipping out. I didn't hear her step in the house because I was stuck wallowing in my self pity, but now that she's here, I can breathe._

 _"I believe so..."Mom trails as if she's unsure. Again she thinks, the most painful thing she has to do in life, and then looks to her own mother again, "Who are you?"_

 _I look up to grandma to see pain on her face as well. She isn't used to her own daughter forgetting who she is especially at a young age. It should be the other way around right? Isn't how life is supposed to work? Thankfully, mom always remembers who I am. She may forget the little things like my first word or who my father is, but she always knows that I'm her daughter. She always shows she loves me no matter what._

 _"I am your mother La La. I've taken you had a long day?" Grandma questions her but looks down at me._

 _"I came home and she was Roni." Saying that out loud made me realize that the loud music from Roni's playlist has stopped. The room us three females are residing in grows unbearably silent. The only thing I can hear is my heart humping in my ears._

 _"Well that explains why I want to throw up my insides." Mom groans. At least she remembers who her alter egos are by now. Grandma and I told her about them and the doctors explains what happens every time she goes._

 _Apparently, mom's brain is taking full control of her body. It's splitting who she is and her personalities into their own person. So, she'll shift into that person for a short period of time, but ever since Roni came about, she's been stuck as her for a long time._

 _"Come on sweetie, it's time for you to take your meds." Grandma motions._

 _"Oh wait, Grandma!" I stop the both of them, they whip around to face me curiously. "When I said your name, mom came back. I think there might be trigger words to bring her back." Grandma gives me warm smile and pulls mama close._

 _"I'll be sure to tell the doctors that L, good eye." She winks before dragging mom off into the kitchen._

Yesterday, I told Emma about mom and I guess it didn't go too well. Emma never brung it up again and I texted her this morning and got no response. I feel like she's going to avoid me like everyone else.

As I make my ways towards the back kitchen to punch in the next order, the bell rings capturing my attention along with everyone else's during the lunch rush. Blonde curls bounce to and fro as Emma skips into the diner with a little boy keeping up beside her. He's holding a book protectively against his chest.

Emma freezes and looks around for a moment. I quickly turn around to clip the order in the window for granny to grab. I'd do anything to avoid Emma right now, even if it means I'd miss this chance of meeting her son.

"Hey Laya, you got a minute?" The familiar voice calls from behind me." I turn around to find Emma with a look of desperation. I'm really not in the mood, but still I let out a heavy sigh.

"Granny! I'm going on break!" I call out to the older woman.

"Alright! I'll send Ruby out for ya!" I thank my granny and untie my apron so that I don't look weird sitting with them. As I round the counter, Emma gives me a warm smile as if it would make up for the heart ache she's caused me,

"Henry, this is my friend Laya. She's Lana's daughter." Emma first introduces. I'm thoroughly confused, but I decide it best to play along for Henry's sake.

"Hi laya!" Henry beams happily. Oh my god he's so cute!

"Hey Henry!" I return that big smile not being able to help it because of how adorable he is. He looks just like Emma. She can be adorable too sometimes. Stop it Laya, you're supposed to be angry with her!

"Let's sit, we need to talk." Emma urges. I look at her suspiciously and follow suit to the farthest booth in the diner. Henry slides in first, she slides in beside him, so I slide in across from them.

"So, I thought about it and I need to know more about your mom?" Just as Emma begins to speak, Henry opens his book and pulls a pen from his pocket.

"What's going on?" I question.

"I'm going to write down everything mom needs to know so she can study!" Henry informs and waves his book, he then whispers and says, "This is the book of extra special operations, dont tell anyone."

I look to Emma for answers. She holds nothing but a big smile on her, "Henry and I are calling this operation Two face." She chuckles.

"It's my favorite villain from batman and fits perfect!" The boy beams. I don't know if I should feel excited or emotional, but I am still confused.

"Look we thought about it and then I realized Lana must have personality disorder like in the movie Split right?" I nod my head and lean in trying to figure out what Emma has going on in that brain of her's. It's probably epic and I'm all in no matter what. "Okay so I really like your mom, like really like your mom. So if I have to get all of her personalities to fall in love with me, then so be it." She shrugs.

"Seriously?!" I gasp out. Emma purses her lips and leans over the table to reach for my face. I hadn't realize that I've been crying. "I'm sorry, it's just hat I never see my mom happy and you made her really happy the other day and—" Emma interrupts me with a chuckle and says,

"It's okay L. You came here for fresh start and a change so Henry and I are going to hell you. It's fair that you have to go through this alone." I just couldn't help myself. I reach over the table and pull her in for a big hug.

"You too Henry." Henry joins in the group hug completing the fill of happiness in my heart. I hope with what I have, that Emma is successful.


	5. Chapter Five: Meeting Roni

I wake up once again to my son bouncing over top of me. It's my day off which is expected, but this is all I'd expect from today. My life has changed since the day I met Lana and Laya; I don't mind it not one bit.

"Ma! It's time for the first day of the operation!" Henry beams. His smile is always contagious. He leans in and presses his nose against mine to confirm that I am awake.

"Do you have the book kid?" I ask. He frantically nods his head before pulling away. I watch my son slide off of my bed. He grabs the notebook and my cell phone from off of the dresser. He hands the phone over and I gladly take it.

"Okay, Let's see who Lana is today..."I trail as I open up my phone. I have a fur waiting messages, but Laya's is the one that's most important to me right now.

 ***Laya Sent a Picture***

"Woah! She's really pretty mom." Henry points out.

"Isn't she?" I agree mindlessly. I can't help but drool at this picture. Lana is so hot and this will be so worth it. I just feel it in my heart. She is the one, despite her mental problem. Lana is the girl I've been dreaming of for as long as I can remember.

Henry understands which is why he is helping me. He knows I am into woman and even he doesn't feel right about most of the girls that I bring home. They just don't fit in, they aren't unique, but when I told him about Lana, he was all for it.

"Alright, so...make up free. Rick James tshirt...skinny jeans. And leather jacket." I point out. Henry observes his note book and points to a name that fits the description.

"That's Veronica, but she likes to be called Roni. She's some what of an alcoholic, loves to play baseball, and she's party girl. Oh and her favorite music is rock and roll!" Alright, this shouldn't be hard. Laya did say that all of the egos have bubbly personalities and she warned me that they all are stubborn, but I'm the Queen of stubborn. I got this.

"Alright Hen." I conclude as I push the covers away, "should I take her to the park or the arcade?"

Henry hums and taps his chin, "I think the arcade is a good first date, that way Laya and I can go too!" I nod my head in agreement and begin to stretch my limbs. _I'm on a mission. It's all or nothing_. "Oh mom, dont forget. Roni thinks she's a retired bartender and she saved Laya from a crappy life on the streets."

"Adoption. Got it." I conclude. Henry and I begin our annual morning race to see who can get ready the fastest. I usually let him win because I like to take exceptionally long showers. They're mostly long because I just stand there and think about things.

Things like how excited I am to Lana...well Roni today. I mean, I'm always nervous about meeting new people but these people share the same beautiful body and they are just the same beautiful person split into fours.

Roni's picture flashes before my eyes and it makes my heart stop just thinking about her. I swear her beauty will kill me. Every thing about her from her eyebrows to her lips and the curves she leaves on full display, is perfect!

By the time I'm done thinking about Lana and is fully clothed, Henry is already downstairs watching cartoons and sipping on the entire carton of orange juice.

"Seriously kid?" I groan out and snatch the carton away. He purses his lips but soon laughs when I guzzle down the rest of what was left inside. He always leaves behind a tiny drop and puts it back in the fridge anyways, so I might as well finish it off.

"Hey! I was drinking that!" He giggles. I give my son a taunting look and set the carton back down on the coffee table.

"Are you ready to meet Lana, well part of Lana?" I question. Henry rolls his eyes and stands up tall.

"Its _veronica_ , Ma. Don't screw up the names!" He whines. The kid literally made me study more about Roni for about 15 minutes. It's so annoying since I want to me her like, now. "I think you're ready."

"I was born ready for this" I grin confidently.

My palms begin to sweat the closer we get to the diner. Henry and I thought it would be a great idea to walk since it's a little bit on the breezier side today. I decided on wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts since Roni seems more like a tomboy. I know what people wear has nothing to do with anything, but I also don't know what Roni likes either so I thought being girly today would play it on the safe side.

As we approach the diner, Henry blocks the doorway and holds out his arms, "Are you ready for this? Are you sure because once you go in you can't back out." I look to my son with forced confidence. _You can do this Swan..._

I give Henry a nod of confirmation. The moment he opens the door, the world begins to spin all around me. The sound of the bell sounds dull to my ears along with all the chatter in the diner.

My eyes are immediately glued to the woman sitting at the counter. After noon drinking is uncommon unless your Leroy, but those plump lips consumes the cup of scotch without a care in the world. Just watching makes my mouth go dry and suddenly I'm in need of a glass of water.

"Emma!"

"Ma!" They both yell at once. I blink a few times to focus in on the younger people standing before me with playful grins on their faces.

"It's rude to stare Em-ma." Laya teases. I simply roll my eyes and slip nervously on my feet. Maybe I didn't think this through. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I mean of course I should just be myself but what if Roni isn't even gay in the first place! _Ughhhh_!

"Who are they Laya?" The familiar voice, like music to my ears, harshly pulls me away from my thoughts like a slap in the face. Suddenly I am consumed with the adrenaline and confidence I need to get through this day.

"Veronica, this is Emma and her son Henry. Guys, this is Veronica, my guardian." Veronica gives us a big sober smile and holds out her hand for me to take. I do so on a more professional level, but then I remember that my palms are sweaty so I'm sure she feels it. He burn begins to seep across my cheeks and I slowly pull my hand away so that I'm not subjected to the torment any further.

"Just call me Roni...have I met you before?" _Woah! I was not expecting that._

"Uhhhh...I uhhh–" I stutter as I try to come up with some lie that makes sense, but thankfully Laya comes to save the day.

"You might have seen her around before Roni. She's deputy of the town." Still Roni tilts her head and thinks really really hard as she eyes me down with that pointed stare. She's so cute when she's focused!

"No...I feel like I _know_ you, but I can't remember how..." Roni then sucks her teeth after a moment of silence and shrugs off the subject. She then focuses her attention to my son and falls down on one knee to be eye level with him. _All of mom's personas adore children..._

Maybe it was a good call for me to tag Henry along. "Well aren't you adorable, Henry right?"

"Yup!" Henry gives a firm nod and a warm smile, "You're really pretty."

"Awww thank you!" Roni chuckles. She looks up to me with a small smirk as if she has some game in her mind. I watch her every move curiously. "So, a little birdy told me that Granny sometimes leaves a little boy in the kitchen to cook. That wouldn't so happen to be you would it?" Henry looks up to me in shock and looks back down to Roni.

"Yeah! That's me!" Henry enthuses. Suddenly my son becomes just like tigger. He's happily jumping on his feet, silently hoping that Roni will ask him to cook something. It's like this boy is suddenly yearning for another adults approval and he fact that Roni displayed some recognition of his skills, boosted his confidence way more than I have seen in a long time.

"Hmmm..." Roni hums, "It is almost lunch time...would you be willing to make a cheeseburger?" _Lana Likes cheeseburgers too. Roni's closer to her than I thought..._

"Yes!" Henry cheers and pumps his hands in the air. We all laugh at the hyperactive boy and watch as he runs back behind the counter. "GRANNY! IM GONNA MAKE CHEESEBURGERS FOR RONI!"

Roni stands up tall and looks me dead in my eyes. I just want to melt right before her feet and worship every part of her beauty, but that time will come, hopefully.

"Why don't you two sit some where and I'll go and help Henry." Laya suggests. She put our staring contest to an end, sadly. Before the teen leaves, Roni gives her a peck to her forehead. I find it adorable.

"So..." I trail awkwardly.

"Soooo." Roni teases. To my surprise, she locks her arm in mine and leads me over to the booth closest to us. Instead of letting me sit across from her, she pulls me in beside her with her unbelievable strength. "You're really shy." She points out.

"Sorry, I just get nervous when I meet new people." I chuckle. The laugh trails off of my tongue causing Roni to laugh as well.

"Don't be, its cute." My heart leaps in my throat. Not only did her eyes sparkle when she said it, she's already flirting with me. I didn't really expect that from someone like her.

Even after having a glass of scotch, she's so cool and laid back as if she doesn't have a thing in the world to care about but living the good life. I wish I were like that, but I always seem to be stuck on the edge of anxiety.

"Laya was just telling me that I need to get out more and mingle. I know what she was implying but I also wonder if you are in on her little scheme." Roni squints her eyes at me and scoots a little closer. The moment Im feel the burn rising back on my cheeks from her thigh toughing mine, Roni's lips curl into a wicked grin.

"I...have no idea what you're talking about." I breathe out nervously. Im sure that gave me away. Roni takes a few more moments to study me with her enchanting brown eyes before shrugging her shoulders and pulling away.

"Sure you don't. I only came here because Laya wanted to see her uncle after so many years." _You mean your_ _brother_... Is what I want to say but I keep my lips shut. Something tells me that Roni might reveal something about Lana. "You know, I'd never find myself doing so much for a kid but this girl means so much to me. I was so empty before I found her." My heart drops from Roni's admission. The way she stares off as she reminisces about her past brings so many questions to mind. Is Roni daydreaming about some past life that her brain up because of the lies she's been told for her sake, or is she reminiscing about Lana's past, her true past.

"What made you take her in?" I then ask as gently as I can. Roni looks to me, deeply in my eyes. Her's simply sparkle from the sun beaming through the window and melting my heart to the very core.

"I don't remember." She shrugs in defeat. "It could be the alcohol. So, I thought at first but I feel more like me when I drink. I feel like I _know_ things that I'm supposed to know. Otherwise, I can't ever remember a damn thing and the look on that little girl's face breaks my heart everyday because I know I've let her down over and over again. Who knows what I've done to her." A tear breaks free from her eyes and slowly rolls down her cheek to imply that a little part of Roni's conder wall just cracked right before my eyes.

For a moment I falter. Reaching my hand out to her could be the biggest mistake in my life, but I slowly lift my hand anyways. I'm more nervous than I was when meeting her. The air around me goes stale and stills my heart as I perform the moment of truth.

"You'll get better Roni, Laya loves you so much and maybe that's the real reason behind why she brung you here." The world suddenly goes dark around me once I feel soft, and slightly drenched cheek, come in contact with my fingers. An adorable, tiny little sigh leaves from the back of Roni's throat and echoes in my mind. It forever replays to burn through my memory and kickstarting my heart back to life.

"Ma, Roni! We're done." Roni and I quickly pull apart from our touching. To face the two younger loves in our lives. Henry has a big prideful smile on his face that shows off the hope in his innocent eyes. Laya's face holds uncertainty and thought. She tilts her head a little, without saying a word, and places a plate of Henry's gourmet cheeseburger in front front of the brunette first.

"Henry also wanted you guys to keep in mind that he made these with extra special love." Laya informs, visibly pushing her thoughts to the side. Henry frantically nods his head in agreement, the smile still on his adorable face, and places a plate of cheeseburger and french fries in front of me.

I keep my eyes glued on the plate, feeling to embarassed to even look at Roni. Just her being beside me drives my pulse to go crazy and thump against the ball of anxiety in my throat. Still, I admire how cool this woman is despite everything. She audibly takes in a deep breath and let's out a hum of satisfaction.

"This smells really really good Henry, thank you." Henry also says his thank you's before Laya leads the boy back to the kitchen to help out granny before the lunch rush start.

Everything is silent between Roni and I. Truthfully, I'm too nervous to say anything or even eat, but for my son's sake I force a french fry in my mouth and focus on that alone. Come one Swan. _All you have to do is casually get it down your throat and you'll be fine!_

"No hungry?" The husky voice shatters the awkward silence yet against with her comment. I can practically sense the mischievous grin on her face and her eyes watching my every moves.

"Ummm..." I fumble yet again, "Not really which is odd because I'm always hungry."

"No way!" Roni gasps from the newfound information. "Do you do pilates or something?"

I manage to have enough strength to acknowledge. Otherwise, I'd just be rude. I could never live with myself if I left that impression, Even if she might not remember when she wakes up again, whenever she does.

"Yea. I sometimes work out with Henry when we have nothing else better to do. Do you have anything you like to do." Roni gulps down the huge bite of cheeseburger she had stuffing her cheeks and thinks about that for a moment. While she does this, I take a moment to gaze at every detail and feature on her face, especially her lips. The nude plumpness is what's really turning me on right now. I so want to bite them. _Wait but what if Roni doesn't like biting? Does Lana like biting?_

"I really love jamming out while I clean the house after Laya and Dolores. I mean the house is always clean to a normal person maybe, but Laya would sometimes come home to the entire house reorganized, literally." Jesus! Laya told me about Lana's OCD but she never mentioned hat is was hat extreme. Well maybe she did, 'Lana's Land' speaks volumes now. I totally get it now.

"And you do it all by yourself?" I question in shock. Roni nods her head confidently and pops a french fry in her mouth. Again with the seductive sigh of satisfaction. I wouldn't be surprised if she started having a food-ga right in front of my face. "Now I get where that strength came from."

"You mean when I dragged you over here? Did you like that?" She questions and simply throws me off. I don't think Roni even realizes what She says sometimes because she just dismissed her own question, "Sorry, I might be tipsy right now.

"No no, it's fine." I quickly defend. "You're blunt and honest. I like it." She gives me a small smile and rest her cheek into her propped hand. I totally would've missed the way her eyes drop to below my chin, wondering somewhere else if I hadn't been staring so hard.

I then clear my throat to force her eyes back to mine. Roni may be a little straightforward, but I wont ever let it get to far. I want to build something with all parts of Lana to understand her better without moving too fast, "What else do you do for fun!"

"Ummm..."she trails n thought while sucking her lip between her teeth. "Oh yeah! Duh, I love to play baseball. I don't know why but there's just something about swinging a bat into something."

"Cool! I get what you mean, it's like you're smacking away all of your problems to oblivion." She gawks at me, slack jawed, as if I'm some golden crown that she has never witnessed before. I can't help but chuckle at her adorable flustered stateZ the way we just click amazes me.

"You play?" She questions, still shocked about it.

"Yea, all throughout Junior High and High school. Want to see what I'm made of?" I taunt.

"Oh hell yes! LAYA! PACK UP MY FOOD! I'M TAKING EMMA TO THE PARK." This time I don't shrivel in my skin. If Roni doesn't care about the attention she's attracting towards us, then why should I?

"Ooo! Can we come?! Please?" Henry begs. He's the first to burst from the back kitchen and make a run towards us. Roni gives him a reassure, mother like, smile and nods her head. _Man is she a natural._

"Of course you can buddy. Laya can come too if she wants." Roni implies as the teen makes her way over.

"Sure." She shrugs. Well looks like we'll be having family outing after


	6. Chapter Six

_I look into her eyes and wonder: what does she see in me? She doesn't know who I am so why? Why does she do the things she does, like taking me to the hair salon or teaching me how to roller skate?_

 _Does she ever look in the mirror? Does she see herself in me? Will it ever click in her head that the daughter that she dreams of is staring her right in her face? Am I not good enough?_

 _"You're not hungry?" She questions. I shamelessly look to anywhere but her. I find it highly in comfortable that she has a painted stare fixated on me with a bottle of beer in her hand. Slowly, full of unnerving sickness, I shake my head to express my truth, "What Laya? What did I do now?!"_

 _The abrupt bang nearly caused me to fall out of my seat from the overwhelming shock of fear coursing from my veins. I manage to stay glued there, desperately trying to fight the burning tears in my eyes from falling and making me look weak._

 _"Am I not good enough for you?" The wavered voice earns my attention. Despite the tight grip she has on that bottle of death, I can see it. All in her depressed eyes, I can see mama in there. Not Roni, but mom. Lana managed to eat Roni for just a brief moment and lock her in the room of personalities where she belongs._

 _After my mom left, a part of mama left too. She became heavily depressed, thinking that playing it cool during the day and drinking away her problems would help. Why? I can never understand. "Will I ever be good enough for anybody?" She questions rhetorically. I sit stuck, as if it matters. Mom looks lost, her eyes show emptiness as if she's not even here in this moment right now._

 _Fighting Every triggered nerve in my muscles, I push myself away from the table. It's a risk, yet one I'm willing to take. Slowly, I take small steps with wobbly knees towards the woman that I admire the most. Like a shy toddler, I wrap my arms around her no knowing if it's the right move that a kid should make without being scolded._

 _Mama doesn't fight or yell, instead she rests her hand gently on my arm to show that she feels me here. I'm here for her and always will be. "You're good enough for me mama. You make me proud and I hope that I make you proud too."_

The brown wooden figure wobbles every way to taunt me. Just a few feet away, it waits for me to launch my attack as I focus on its every move. My eyes then fall to the focused brown eyes formed with the familiar squint of determination.

I take in this beauty for what she is. Outspoken, courageous...free. The free spirit of all Lana's problems is standing just a few feet away from me. Could this be who Lana could be if she weren't put through so much heartache in her past? Was this the Lana that Laya knew and loved growing up? Is Roni truly as happy as she appears to be in this moment?

Her perfectly plump lips curl into a taunting grin. She digs her feet in the dirt just a little more and finally keeps that wobbly bat steady. I take that as my opportunity. Focus. Aim. And fire.

I let a rip with so much power that part of me fears the ball will catch on fire and burn the precious goddess before me. Yet Roni has other plans in mind. Her body shows off all the muscles mass she has as she swings for the ball. The small thump travels throughout the clear blue sky and towards my eardrums, forcing me to focus on the round white object. She smacked the ball so hard that it rocketed far and high, fighting all laws of physics.

"That's how you hit a damn ball!" She taunts and drops her bat. Everything had been in slow motion for a brief moment but reality came tumbling back. Now I can hear nature all around me and the sound of the kids cheering out to boost Roni's ego.

"Roni! Roni! Roni!" They both chant out as loud as they can. I turn to face my son pretending to feel heartbroken just to get a kick out of the results.

"Really kid? You're just going to betray me like that? You're own mother." Henry literally looks horrified and snaps his mouth shut, fast than I can say fast. Inwardly I chuckle, but realistically I turn back towards Roni who is already sauntering towards me. I swear she's teasing! _This woman will be the death of me._

"Don't be jealous blondie." She scoffs, "your son can't help but pick out a winner when he sees one." _Roni, you_ _have no idea, how much I want to kiss that stupid grin off your face_! The older brunette keeps her hands folded behind her back and leans extremely close into my personal space. Her eyes form into a squint either from studying me or blocking out the harsh sun radiating against our skin.

"Whatever, its my turn." I shrug nonchalantly with confidence. I press the baseball into her chest to forcefully push her face away from coming any closer. Roni humorously chuckles and takes the glove confidently.

"Alright Swan, it's three to one right?" She taunts. So far I've been holding back but the buzz of competition from Roni's taunting is starting to be way too contagious for me to handle. She takes the ball from my glove and slams it into her glove a few times.

I focus my attention down to the bat laying into dirt. Roni's bat. The thing she immediately expressed that she holds dear to her heart. She couldn't remember why, maybe Laya knows? It wouldn't hurt to ask.

Once picking up the perfectly polished stick. I take a moment, for the first time, to observe its features. Etched across the bat in gold is _Parrilla..._

"It was her papi's, her dad's." The soft voice startles me a little. I turn to face Laya who stands behind me, preparing to play as empire just as Henry did when Roni went up to bat. "He died when she was 16; murdered. She was there and tried to protect him, but she hit her head and earned that scar on her lip. It's the root of her problems now but that's not why she lost her memories." I stare at Laya in disbelief, finding it hard for me to soak in the horrible information. My heart sets out painfully for the gorgeous brunette yet I feel satisfied from finally receiving a piece of the puzzle of Lana's complicated life.

Her voice calls out to me and harshly rips me away from fantasies, "Alright blondie! Are you going to bat or what?"

Her taunting is enough for me to shake out my limbs and roll away the knots from my neck. I hold the bat in my clutches just the way Dad taught me all those years ago. _Keep your eyes on the prize kiddo. Pretend to focus your_ _strength in the bat and beating those problems head on_ _until it's gone out of your sight and mind..._

The next few moments play out in slow motion. Roni's leg lifts as her body twist; step one. I dig my feet in the dirt to keep me grounded. She raises her gloved hand and the ball; step two. I steady my bat and prepare to fight. Focus, all I have to do is focus and keep my aim on that ball.

Roni launches it with strength like speed, I'm sure, but it comes barreling at me like a snail. The moment it inches closer enough, I twist my body, swing my arms, and hit that ball with all my might. Everyone stands back and watches how far it goes.

I know then, when it passes my son, that there is no saving that ball. It forcefully plumps into the water right in the middle of the lake that stands so many yards away. That's way farther than Roni previously hit before.

"Nice going Emma! You lost our only ball!" She groans with raised arms in defeat. I simply dismiss her frustrations with a soft chuckle and jog over to her with my bad still in hand.

"Or are you upset because you know you couldn't top that anyways." I whisper in her ear. She visibly shiver and immediately snatched the bat away to try to save her ass, but its too late. I saw it.

Roni hungrily eyes me down for a quick second before, deeming it my turn for my nerves to shiver. Her eyes then shifts slightly and gazes past my shoulder, most likely towards Laya who could be heard coming our way.

"I bought bread crumbs. I'm gonna take Henry to feed the ducks and turtles." She announces. Veronica...I like that name I wonder why Lana's mind came up with it. Anyways, Veronica praises Laya for her kindness with a kiss to follow.

The teens jogn off towards Henry and offers her hand. Veronica and I watch side by side as our children happily stroll towards the pond and leaving us behind to enjoy the rest of our little date.

"Look, it's so beautiful." Roni hums. I follow her fingers towards the setting sun, trying to figure out why she so enchanted in it. It also comes to mind that I haven't eaten all day and we've been out here almost all day. "The colors are like a wild display of emotions like the sun has gone mad and falling into the darkness."

"Wow...that's deep." I frown and face the brunette. Her pupil are dilated like her mind is so far off. _Be warned...I know it's weird but when Roni is sober, her mind is all over the place. She becomes unpredictable. Most days, not always, when the sun begins to set mama reawakens_ _again with jumble memories like coming back from a_ _hangover..._

"Veronica?" I question cautiously. I take a step closer to get a better look at her, but all I see is pain. Her face is twitching every where as if she's trying to fight back something or keep it at bay.

"Why am I here," she whispers to no one. Her eyes frantically darts around until they land on me. She stumbles back a little in fear, holding her bat in front of her in challenge.

"Who the hell are you? Why did you drag me here?!" I immediately throw my hands up in surrender, not knowing what to say or do at the moment. My heart thumps forcefully against every limb and my mind goes on autopilot.

"Look over there." I motion with the tilt to my head. Maybe it will be best if I keep completely still to show that I mean no harm.

"That's Laya over there and my son. They're bonding and so were we. I know you just forgot out of no where, I get how painful it is,"

"No! No you don't! You don't know me!" She snaps with pure rage. Her bat inches a little closer to my face causing me to stumble back just a little. But as I said, I'm the queen of stubborn. I really like Lana and I will never give up on her no matter how many times she hits me with that bat.

"I do.." I attempt again with a firm nod. I gulp down all the fears I once had and take in the situation for what this truly is: she's just confused, scared, and in pain. "You're hurting Lana. You've always have. For your entire life you've lived in misery forcing yourself to believe that you aren't good enough. Your mind is causing you so much pain and grief, but I'm here to fix it. I want to take it all away. I don't care how many times you lose yourself or forget about me. Me, Henry, and Laya, we care. We won't leave you, not like everyone else has."

My heart heals just a little from witnessing Lana drop her bat beside her as if my words has touched her, not her heart, but her brain. The gears are turning in her head, I know this from witnessing the tears filling her eyes thickly.

"You mean every word you say?" She chokes out. I take this as my moment to step closer with a sincere smile that's only meant for her in this moment.

"I managed to get Roni to smile and forget about her pain. So why not you?" Lana let's out a guttural laugh from fighting against her tears. It gives me the impression that she somewhat knows her situation, at least in this moment, and knows who Roni is.

"Emma Swan..." she trails in realization. Her eyebrows furrows a little to show just how much she's struggling to think further on the matter. So far she's managed to remember my name but that's all I fear she'll get. I then step closer and cup cheeks to force her attention back to me and not her head.

"The harder you think, the harder it gets. Just look at me." I demand as kindly as I can. She softly nods in my embrace and holds in a breath that she's too afraid to release. Maybe it's from my touch, because I know touching her sends my heart soaring.

"I know you. I know I've met you, but I don't remember," she sadly answers, but I'm glad she's mentally stable enough to tell the truth. Although we're back to square one again, like with Roni, I will get Lana to burn our memories in her brain just like she has with her daughter.

"I suppose I have to introduce you to Henry again then?" I grin. Lana tilts her head curiously and focuses back over to the lake where Laya and Henry are now catching fireflies instead of feeding the ducks.

"I do love children." She bargains to herself. I let her contemplate it for a few more seconds but then hold out my hand for her to take.

"Come with me, to happiness Lana. I promise you that it's all I'll instill in your head from now on." Lana looks to me with something in her eyes that I have never seen once, not even in Roni. Hope. There's hope filling her eyes and forcing a smile to break away on my face.


	7. Chapter Seven

_The sounds that no 13 year old should be used to, echoes in this home like no tomorrow. Most people will call it bad parenting, but She doesn't understand. She can't help it._

 _I welcome you to Trina's story. The woman who's sex drive is through the roof! She woke about week ago only to be replaced by Regina for a few days. Yesterday mama was herself, but now Trina is back._

 _Like me, she loves to take pictures, well it's why I do it now. She taught me everything I needed to know. I had no idea mom knew a thing about photography, she's so full of surprises. But now these different parts of her are unraveling the secrets that she shoved to the back of her head. That brain of her's is now an opened chest and nothing about her is safe, not with these alter egos possessing her body._

 _My bedroom door knob wiggles just a little, causing me to shrink in my skin. The woman is very kind, flirtatious, yet intimidating all the same. Let's not forget that she likes to party like Roni does. But every girl has their flaws. Mama's a depressed mess, Regina torments others and slices away at her own flesh, Veronica drinks like her body is immortal, and Trina smokes like her lungs are made of steel._

 _"Sorry you had to hear that, he's leaving now." She announces behind the cigarette tucked between her lips. I eye her down trying to figure out why she's standing in front of me with just her underwear on. Man, if mama could just see herself._

 _Since it's been a year of Alex's departure and mom's brain dysfunction, I can only assume that her sex appetite became too unbearable, thus Trina was born. Built to successfully please every one of Lana's sexual desires._

 _"Seriously, I'll stop...one day." She shrugs and leans against the doorway. I tilt my head not being able to give her a look of disgust._

 _"Stop what? Your sexual addiction? Or the cigarettes? That future seems very bleak." Trina purses her lips a little, I know that it is a fake pout but maybe deep inside Lana is in there and she cares. Wait, this is Lana. This a part of Lana that is more defined than the others in this moment._

 _"Don't sit here and guilt trip me, please. I've already been through enough." She heavily sighs, but it's too late. I'm already triggered and have had enough of this. All of it!_

 _"What about me huh? I lost my mom and my dad...and–and you! Have any of you stopped to think about how I feel?!" Trina's face falls into sorrow. She pushes her body away from the door frame and enters my room without invitation._

 _I don't have the strength to fight her anymore, so I let her sit beside me with that death stick in her hand. I hate the way the stupid thing smells and she knows I hate it when she smokes in my room. Still, she ignores my wishes, and anger for that matter, and pulls me in close._

 _"I literally think about you all the time when I'm not...lost. You're all I have, all I care about. My mom is dead. My dad is dead..." she trails and let's out a heavy sigh. My heart stings from the weight of the pain from loss. I then realize this is the root of mama's problem. Loss and I get where she's coming from because, sadly, every person she's lost I've lost too. They were apart of my life as well._

 _Many years ago, when mama was 16, her father took her on a stroll in a park where they used to play baseball together all of the time; he actually played in the major leagues. A person who heard of him tried to rob him right in the open, with a knife. As her father tried to fight him, Lana tried to help her dad fight him off resulting in the thief accidentally cutting her lip. He pushed her away with force causing her to bang her head on a tree and she passed out._

 _That didn't leave any brain damage, only the death of her father did. It wasn't until Mama met mama that her entire world changed. Alex had been in our lives since I was three years old. She was always there, always caring. But couples always have their issues. Mom and Mama argued one day, I don't know why, but it resulted in Mama hitting her head again in the exact same spot as she had many years before. Her skull literally cracked from the blow and her brain tissues inflamed from being banged around. Things changed from then. It left possible permanent brain damage against her which is why she's sitting here with an extremely rare disorder and thinking her name is Trina...Or is she._

 _" I get it mijah. You keep seeing people come and go. We keep losing people and you're afraid that you'll lose me. But you'll never lose me and I'll do what I can to never lose you." Mama pulls me in very close, despite being Trina no longer, she inhales her cigarette as if it's completely natural. It makes me wonder if she ever smoked before._

 _Just as if she read my mind she goes, "It really sucks, because when I found out I was pregnant with you, I quit altogether. Now here I am..."_

 _I suddenly feel loved and prideful for this woman holding on to me. I've come to learn in so many ways that mama has done so much for me and she has never left me behind either. I'm grateful that I have her as a mother, no matter how mentally messed up she may be. It's because I always know that every part her cares, memories or no memories._


	8. Chapter Eight: Meeting Trina

"Hey Laya. How did you sleep baby girl?" Her voice sounds through the small room. I finish tying off my shoe and look to the woman dressed in cute clothing that screams Trina. Her soft makeup is very pleasing and reassuring to look at. It sets me off to a good morning in all honesty.

"I slept good." For some reason, Trina seems too cheerful and giddy for my liking. The last time Trina was awake, we argued and she stormed off to a sex club, so why is she awake and so happy? _Did she wake up with a clean slate this time?_

"Well that's good. I had fun playing baseball with Emma yesterday...even though I have no idea what even possessed me to play baseball." _Am I hearing that right? Did she just say what I think she said_? "What?" She frowns.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Is mom's memories starting to focus again? _Is Emma's plan really_ _working_?! I think I have absolutely lost my mind! I must be dreaming! Trina knits her eyebrows in full concern and tilts her head.

"Are you running a fever sis? Should you even be going out?" I shake my head, not even attempting to fight the goofy look on my face. I know I look stupid but who cares! Trina remembered yesterday, and she wasn't even Trina yesterday, which means that yesterday is burned into her memory! "Okay you are really freaking me out." I quickly grab at my back pack not being able to suppress the excitement bubbling inside. This is the happiest day I've had all summer!

"Ill explain later but I have to go to work with Emma. Love you big sis..." I call behind me.

"I love you more!" She calls back.

 **-Great news! I'll tell you all about it when you get to the diner!**

 ***Laya Sent Two Pictures***

"Oh my god she's absolutely breathtaking." I mumble out loud. I wonder if Laya took these amazing photos or if Lana was a model that I should have known about a long time ago. Questions. Questions. So many damn questions I have every single day and not enough answers.

I look through Henry's book of secret operations to determine who Lana is today. Soft makeup. Pretty dresses. Pressed hair and curled adorably:

 _Trina: extremely sweet but has a seductive side. She flirts ALOT. Like alot. She's also a smoker and has a very strong sexual appetite, obviously._

 _Trina thinks she is Laya's sister being that they look exactly alike. Trina is also the rare ego that remembers her mother AND father, and even knows who Graham is._

Clearly family is what Trina cares about most...

 _Trina loves being surrounded by happy people and making new friends. Don't let her girly figure fool you, she loves doing yoga and going for runs at the break of Dawn. She is also a party girl like Roni and loves to play games._

Well this shall be thoroughly pleasant. I don't know if I'll ever get to meet Trina today because of work and what not, but I hope she'll wake up tomorrow so that I possibly can. But...I have work tomorrow too.

I close Henry's book and set it on the kitchen counter, a place where I remember. I then grab my keys to the bug from said counter and make my way out of the house.

Henry is with my dad so he's something that I don't have to worry about today. He had a blast yesterday and would not stop talking about it for the remainder of the night. All throughout dinner he boasted about how cool Roni was as if she were his mother. I'm glad he likes her.

I start my car and begin to mindlessly drive throughout the town. Even when I'm not on the clock, I like to play my cards right and keep a sharp eye out for anyone suspiciously, but a deep blue and white summer dress catches my eyes. Raven locks bounce with every step yet flows behind her in the wind. _Oh my god_! The sun radiating off of her, now tanned skin, makes Trina looks like she's heaven on earth.

"Hey!" I call out to her from my window. I startled her slight but her shocked expression forms into an adorable smile.

"Em-ma." She teases, "shouldn't you be getting my sister from Granny's?" _Holy shit, she remembers me?!_

"I-I'm shocked that you know that or remember me." I respond truthfully. I decide that its rude of me to follow her steps with my car, so I pull up into a spot and park. I wouldn't mind taking a stroll on this beautiful day with a very beautiful woman.

"I know, I know. My mind is all over the place sometimes. But how can I forget that adorable grin or those beautiful green eyes?" _And the flirting begins..._

"Well...I uhh–" she presses her soft finger against my lips to end my self torment. Her pink colored lips curl into a seductive grin as she takes a step closer.

"I just wanted to thank you for yesterday Emma. I had alot of fun." The moment her finger falls, my jaw drops from the amazement of it all. _Is my plan working?! Am I fixing Lana?!_

"W-what? Hang on..." I trail suspiciously, her mind can so easily be playing tricks onto her reality again, "what all do you remember from yesterday?"

"It's all hazy," she shrugs, "But I remember playing baseball with you in clothes I don't normally wear and I don't really ever play baseball but I had fun. I was truly happy." If that's all she got, I'll take it. I'm not sure if she remembers the moments from when Lana woke up but she does remember Roni's moments; that's better than nothing.

"That's good. I'm glad to put a smile on your face Trina. You and Laya deserve it more than anyone I know." Trina gives me a small peck to my cheek as thanks and wraps her arms around mine, hugging it close to her body. Together we walk towards Granny's with confidence as if we are some newly love struck couple. This feels so fucking amazing. I never want it to end.

"You like walking?" I ask. She nods her head against the ball of my shoulder and sighs heavily seeming full of content.

"I love mornings. The cool air, the birds singing, the different people I get to look at..." I feel her chin press my shoulder and wonder if that means she's looking up at me. "What about you? For some reason I feel connected to you but hardly know a thing about you."

"Well...you did say everything from yesterday was hazy. Everything happened fast so we don't really know each other at all." That isn't a complete lie. I never really got the chance to tell Lana or Roni much about me and I barely know Trina except for what Henry wrote down in that book. And now that I think about it, my son wrote down words that he should have never heard yet. _Dammit!_

"Well, I want to get to know you more. If you want." I swear the way she bats her eyelashes at me puts myself into full summit mode for her. I'm the first to stop our walking since we're a block away from the diner. I mean, Graham wouldn't mind if I'm a little late anyways.

"We can have a lunch date during my lunch." I offer. In return Trina gives me the most adorably shy smile I have ever witnessed in my life. Her cheeks even tints just a little just from my simple offer. "Are you okay?"

"W-what? Yes of course I just– it's been a really long time since I've actually been on a date." She informs. I know Lana, I know.

"Well, I don't care how long its been. I'm taking you out on a date and you are going to love it." Trina bubbles a little. The excitement completely consumes her until she loses all control and pulls me into a kiss. Both of us take a quick step back. She looks just as shocked as I am, and nervous too.

"I am so sorry Emma I didn't mean to over step any–" she has to know I like her. She really needs to know this and if her feelings are true, if _Lana's_ feelings are true, she will remember this kiss just as she remembered parts of yesterday. So I pulled her close and slammed our lips together again. The tingling feelings that travel across my lips is something I find so very comforting and highly addicting.

The kiss simply takes my breath away so I had to pull away after a few more desperate seconds; not that I wanted to. Lana also seems to be struggling to breathe correctly and clears her throat. She shyly looks to the ground and says,

"Wow that was..."she trails off with anxiety tinted to her voice.

"Amazing." I confidently finish. Again she chuckles adorably and frantically nods her head. One thing I have noticed about Trina, something that Laya never said, is that she's totally dorky just like Lana is. It's so fucking cute.

As we step into the diner, I notice a few men staring at us for a rather long time. Of course they're staring at Trina, but she doesn't mind at all.

Across the way towards the counter, Ruby whispers to Laya who whispers back to her before he older brunette says, "Trina! Wanna work today? I could sure use the help."

Trina playfully rolls her eyes at her sister in law before turning to me once more. The brunette gives me the once over and says, "I'll be here, whenever you need me."

All she leaves behind is a seductive wink before the sound of her ears slowly fades away from me. Laya then quickly skips over. Her long bounce curls follow behind and makes her beautiful smile more prominent then ever before. I'm so over filled with joy to see this girl so happy like this. Kudos to me!

"Let's go!" The teen urges with the tug to my hand. My body is reluctant being that it doesn't want to leave the brunette who is staring right back at me from behind the counter instead of listening to what Ruby has to say. She let's out a humorous chuckle at the sight of Laya trying to use all her strength to pull me out the door. 'Go!' She mouths.

That's all I needed for my legs to finally move and trail behind Laya. Even still, I could feel Trina's eyes on me until we completely leave the small establishment.

The moment we are far away from the diner, Laya looks to me with a face that tells me she's ready to explode with happiness. It's so contagious that I'm sure I look the same thing. Great minds think alike: we both start squealing like teenagers at a slumber party.

"She remembers yesterday! And she wasn't even like there yesterday!" Laya scream.

"I know!" I scream with the same enthusiasm. All of our bubbly jumping ends when Laya so suddenly wraps her arms around me.

"Thank you so much Emma," She mumbles into my chest. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

The soothing voice makes my heart melt for this child. My arms wrap securely around her as if I am hugging my own. Is it wrong to feel that way after only knowing her for about a week?

Laya is the one to end the special moment being that I didn't have the courage to do so. "Hey, can I ask you a few things while we drive?"

"Sure!" Laya beams happily. I guess I've earned my right to win more pieces of Lana's puzzle right? Laya quickly get's into the car like she always does. I follow suit and turn the ignition.

"Okay so, I notice that all of the personalities remembers her father right? Do you know why?" In my peripheral vision, Laya shrugs and taps her lap while she thinks hard.

"Maybe it's because she grew up with her dad until he died. I believe the relation she had with grandma was shaky but I'm not too sure." I hum to express that I'm listening carefully and proceed with my next question.

"Well it makes sense since Roni called your grandma Dolores I'm guessing?" Laya nods her head and patiently waits for anything else that I want to discuss, "and Trina is very people orientated especially when it comes to family, but why doesn't any of them speak about Graham?"

"Whew! Now that's a story." She sighs dramatically earning a laugh from me.

"I'm all ears,"I encourage return.

"Okay so mama and Graham were really close and did everything together even when Mama lived with her father, Sam Parrilla." She starts.

"So they don't have the same father? I notice that Regina and Graham look nothing alike." Laya shakes her head as an answer and proceeds on with her story.

"Well that's also because they don't technically have the same mother either." That was just a huge bomb dropped on my brain. I eye the teen next to me at a red light and question the obvious,

"He's adopted?"

"Yup, and I don't know why, but Grandma kept it from him. She told him about a year before Grandma became sick and after that we didn't see him for years. I guess its because he felt betrayed and like his whole life was a lie. Mama hated him because he never came to help take care of grandma even after he found out she hit her head and the roles were reversed. Grandma struggled so much and so did I, trying to take care of all of them."

"It all makes complete sense now. That's why Roni so graciously spit, 'her long lost uncle,' it was like she had this unknown anger towards him and his disappearance is definitely why she said 'long lost'. Even Graham looked a little sad when he brung her up."

"I know, our family is just everywhere. But despite the family feud, Mama and Ruby always kept in touch. And Ruby would often visit sometimes to help out the best way she can, along with Granny." Awww that's so sweet. I would have done the same exact thing as well.

"Hey, I invited Trina out for a lunch date. She's going to be so pissed but I think we should try to hey she and Graham to make up during that time." I suggest. We finally make it to the station with literally just two minutes left to spare.

"How would we do that?" She questions as she unbuckles her seat belt. Together we get out the car and walk across the parking lot side by side. "She can hardly remember things from time to time no matter who she is, even herself."

"I know, but she hasn't seen Graham in so long maybe he'll say something that'll bring her memories back or maybe his face alone will help jog her brain muscles." Laya looks to me as if she's unsure but I can tell she's thinking about it. Truthfully, I would never do something behind her back unless she gives the okay. This is her mother after all and if she doesn't feel right I will immediately back down, no questions asked.

"Okay." She concludes after an agonizing slow moment of silence. "I really have hopes that Mama is finally coming back, so trust you. Let's do it."


	9. Chapter Nine

Graham left me with a file on my desk. Another case, of course. Not only am I the deputy of the town, but I had been recently promoted to detective for Hyperion heights as well. The last time I had Laya with me, we uncovered a case together.

She's really good at what she does. She looks in places where only her special eyes can see. She even takes pictures with her camera and zooms into things that stands out so I can better understand. I then found out that all she does is watch crime shows during her spare time, so she definitely works in my favor. I swear that if she ever needs help with recommendations for college or community service hours for her resumé, she can count on me one hundred percent.

"What's the case like today," She asks curiously and peeks over my shoulder. I continue to read and slide the file over to her. I trust that she understands what classified information means, but Graham forced me to make her sign a contract for confidentiality reasons. It was so stupid, I mean she's a kid for crying out loud.

"Woah! A chain murder? That's so weird." I nod my head and take the file away to examine the case more.

"At least that's what some officials believe. As soon as they can find out a link to all of these sudden murders we can set out to Hyperion heights after lunch." I tell her. Yet again, the teen bursts with excitement and frantically claps her hands.

"Does it have to be their hair color or something?" I scrounge my face and shrug because there truthfully is no answer to the question. Out of habit, I sway my chair from side to side and tap my pen against the desk top as I think. It literally always happens no matter what.

"It could be that. The killer could be obsessed with people with a particular hair color or they could be seeking revenge on a group of friends, or it could even be gang related for all we know. That's always the interesting part, the mystery behind it all." Laya laughs at the way I gesture my hands as if I'm story telling and producing magic at once. She pulls out her phone from her pocket and purses her lips at the bright screen.

"Ruby says it's party night and no running away this time. And she also says Trina is going." Laya grins at me. She then faces the phone so that I can see the picture on display. The two friends are wearing sunglasses, even though they are waitressing indoors, and have these adorable duck faces as their poses.

"That's so cute." I laugh. Laya nods her head and hold up her hand again.

"Oh and Aunt Ruby also says to answer her dang texts for once and that she gave Trina your number." She what?!

"I am going to kill her." I groan between gritted teeth. I don't see how, when I have absolutely no idea of how I should feel about the situation. Laya wiggles her eyebrows at me like she knows I won't do a damn thing. She is so damn right.

To change the subject I tap my hands flatly on my desk and push my chair away dramatically, "Anyways, let's patrol a bit. Maybe we'll luck out with Leroy again."

"Yes!" She whisper/cheers. Leroy is definitely her favorite part of our ventures.

Laya and I happily jam to the music in the patrol like we always do. She bobs her head with pursed lips, looking exactly Lana and I tap my fingers against the steering wheel to the beat as well just to buy us some time.

We've been at this for an hour in a half now, coming way close to lunch. Usually Leroy would be out doing something unpredictable since he is known to be the town's morning drinker. So far, nothing.

As I turn the corner into downtown story book that short and chunky man slowly drifts from my mind. I lose hope in ever finding him, so the brain of mine begins to drown my head with Lana: the most beautiful and complex human being I have ever met in my life.

I wonder if I should even try to sneak in a lunch date with Graham. Part of me feels like it will go left or Graham will screw it up. For what he's done, I can only see him as a bastard and he needs to make it right for Lana's sake. If I have to give him a forceful shove for it to happen, then so be it.

And then there's still Lana; or Trina for that matter. I know she wouldn't want to see him and would probably be upset about it. Hell, if it were Lana or Roni, I know they'd raise hell about it. But what if all goes right? Will part of Lana be mended?

"Look!" My thoughts are completely shattered from Laya's frantic pointing and bouncing. It's like she's three all over again and drunk on her own adrenaline.

Before I completely miss what her brown eyes are set on, I press the break, slowing into a quick stop. For a moment, I am confused. My eyes rake the area to find nothing, but Laya steers me in the right direction and enthuses,

"Not around there, up there." I ignore her rambunctious mocking and gaze up more towards the sky. And there it is: Leroy at the top of the Library.

"Ready to see how it plays out this time," I question with a smug grin. Laya returns that smug grin. Without wasting any more time, she quickly unbuckles her seatbelt with ease, and races out of the cruiser.

I take my time, being that Im so used to the altercation with this man. My eyes stay planted on the teen as I slowly unbuckle my seatbelt. Soon enough, she merges in with the small crowd that is peering up at the man with so much curiosity and amazement. Most of them are probably wondering how he got up there, meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how Im going to get him down.

As I finally gain the energy needed to open the car door, my phone buzzes, catching my complete attention. At first I assumed it was my father calling me about Henry, but the unknown number now blaring in my face peeks my curiosity.

"Deputy Swan," I professionally answer just as I always do. At first there's silence making me a little angry. Stupid prank callers! People can be so annoying.

"Do you always answer the phone like that?!" Her perfect laugh is like music to my ears. I sit here, lost for words. Never did I ever expect my crush to just randomly call me, not that it bothers me. I can definitely get used to it. Just the little action like this makes my heart explode with pure joy and anxiety. Not a good mix, but it's something I'm strong enough to deal with.

"What's wrong with the way I answer the phone," I finally speak. The smile on my face is so strong that my cheeks are starting to hurt. My lip is twitching as I attempt to fight against these overpowering nerves on my face. I fail miserably. The smile just won't go away.

"Come on! Live a little sweetie. How's my baby?" I look over to Laya. The teenager has camera out, pointing it directly to the crazy man on top of the tall building. The man who I should be saving and locking away.

"Laya is having a blast. What about you? How are you feeling?" I question. Trina groans out in agony, causing a chuckle to erupt from my lips.

"Well aside from wanting to smack these customers across the face with a tray, it's fine. Ruby's always a great time and I have about 10 phone numbers from a few guys."

How should I feel about that? I remember Laya telling me that Trina's a huge flirt and has a sexual problem. My heart drops just a little; all I could mutter is, "Oh..."

"It's not like I'm interested or anything," she quickly defends. Does she know that I like her? "I was more interested in their tips but if a piece of paper is their way of thanking me then they have their priorities all fucked up."

How can I not laugh at this out going woman? She's just so perfect and funny and care free and happy. "I know you're busy so I'm just going to leave you to your job." I had no idea that I had been silent for too long. I don't want Trina to hang up, but she's right. After taking a quick peek at Leroy, I notice that he's way more unbalanced than usual.

"Thanks Trina. I'll see you in an hour." Trina says her good bye and the call clicks to its end. I don't think I could ever find the strength to press that bright red button, so I let her do it. Now to cuff a drunk.

I finally step out of the car, immediately hearing laughter. Leroy is obnoxiously putting on a musical for everyone. If I have to be quite honest, it's very amusing.

With the whiskey bottle in one hand, and his arms spread wide, he sings, "And I need you now tonight...and I need you more than ever..."

Just from him singing this song makes me wonder if he lost someone he loved. Maybe it's why he gets so drunk all of the time. I mean everyone has their own coping mechanisms. Mine is just shutting the entire world away from my brain, Lana's is more complicated than any, and Laya loves to distract herself with photography.

"What took you so long?" As I step up to the teen she faces me with a huge smile. Her face looks like she's been straining with laughter. It's so red that she looks like a chunky apple.

I pull her close to my side by her shoulders, knowing she'd love the gesture. " I was talking to your sister," I tease.

"Oh yeah? What did she want." The smile, again with the painful smile. I can't fight it no matter how hard I try.

"She just wanted to check on you for the most part, anyways, let's focus on the major issue here. I think we need to investigate. How the hell did he get up there?" Laya laughs and let's her camera hang once letting it go. With pursed lips and extreme focus, much like her mother, she looks around for an answer.

"Maybe the liquor gave him all the strength he needed to climb up to the top?" I look down to this girl with amusement because of how creative she is. I mean, it's not completely impossible. There's only one way to find out.

"I'm going in kid. Watch my back." I command. Laya lifts her hand to her forehead as if she's a soldier ready for battle.

"Sir, yes sir!" You gotta love her!

Graham looks at me with a smug look as I step into his office, "Where's Laya?"

Without answering him, I take a seat before his desk. The conversation that I am about to bring up needs all of my limbs to be comfortable and relaxed especially after the death battle I encountered with Leroy.

"She's at the diner. I need you to do me a huge favor." Graham thoughtfully taps away at his chin hair and looks to me with nothing but suspicion. I don't care if he catches me red handed. All I have to do is persuade him to come to the diner with me.

"And what's this huge favor." With a nonchalant shrug I simply tell him that I want him to come to the diner with me for lunch. "And why would I do that, Emma?"

"Come on, its a moment for us to hang out. And I'm sure you like to watch Ruby in action sometimes." That suspicious look on the man's face immediately disappears. Graham returns a mischievous grin and nods his head, agreeing with my last statement.

"You are very right about that," he points an accusing finger and stands from his seat. I follow behind, feeling anxious about this. I hope Trina doesn't hate me for it. But from what Laya told me, these two were really close and they haven't seen each other not once in years. That totally needs to change.

The little bell chimes announcing our presence just as it's built to do. It hardly bothered me anymore, but today it puts me on complete edge since I have Graham by my side.

Ruby, who's behind the counter, is the first to acknowledge us with a huge smile. She races around with cat like speed and wraps her arms around Graham's neck.

"What brings you here," her voice is so low and seductive, I think I just might want to throw up. But, clearly that voice is what gets Graham going, so she continues to bat her eye lashes and presses her nose closer into his.

"Emma and I are just taking a quick lunch break babe," he chuckles. Ruby's big blue eyes flick towards me. I'm sure Trina has told her that I'm supposed to be having a lunch date with her, so the brunette is either confused or putting two and two together.

"Oh uh, that's great!" She fakes a big smile. Graham immediately senses the change in her demeanor.

"Are you jealous?" He teases with a playful shove. Ruby forces out a laugh and rubs away the spot awkwardly.

"N-no, not at all. Just find somewhere to sit, I'll be right over love." Graham walks away to pick a booth. It's what he usually prefers. I attempt to follow behind, but Ruby grabs my arm with a death grip. Something tells me she's angry... "What the hell do you think your doing?!"

Her harsh whispering doesn't bother me one bit. I've made up my mind on our way here; this will work. It has too, "Helping Laya and Lana like I promised."

With that, I snatch my arm away and make my way over to Graham who is patiently waiting for me. He didn't choose a booth that's far off to the back, so if someone were to appear from the kitchen, they will definitely see us.

The plan is for Laya to keep Trina on her good side to make this more easier. She's been here for a short while now, so I'm sure she succeeded.

"Laya, that's crazy. I don't think I want you experiencing these kinds of things." The voice comes from behind the counter. Trina appears from the kitchen with a little amused smile on her face. Even a smile that small has enough power to take my breath away.

"Aww! Come on Trina... Emma keeps a close eye on me!" The teen whines. Trina playfully nudges at Laya's nose to express her undying love for the little girl. The sight of these two simply warms my heart.

Maybe Trina felt my eyes on her, or she's just anxiously waiting for me. After the shared moment with her 'sister', she looks around the diner with frantic brown eyes scanning every inch of the place. That's until her eyes lock with mine. It lasts for only a second.

My heart completely swells into my throat from the look on her face. Her furrowed brows says it all. I turn to face Graham who sits before me. I suspected that he didn't notice Lana yet, but I find him staring right back at her.

For some reason, the world goes silent around me. The only thing that seems the to matter is Graham and Lana. These two are staring at each other not uttering a word. In the distance, I notice Ruby literally standing on the edge of her feet, wondering anxiously. So am I.

"Emma..."Graham strangles. His throat visibly trembles as he gulps down whatever emotions he is currently feeling. It makes me feel somewhat guilty. "You didn't tell me Lana would be here. Was this some sort of—"

"Graham," I quickly plead to break him from his self loathing. He needs to apologize and he needs to make it right. "Forget about all of it. Put the past behind you because, right now, your sister needs you."

Thankfully, he lets out a shaky breath to try to compose himself. Slowly he takes in another deep one, letting out a very steady breath in return. I anxiously watch this man, hoping that he won't do anything stupid or to make Lana's condition worse.

Time stills as Graham rises from his seat. His eyes never even once looked away from Lana and vice versa. The man dares to take the right step on the shaky, yet right path, towards the mistake he made six years ago. And just as he inches closer, Lana finally blinks, causing a tear to run down her gorgeous cheek. Before Graham even makes it face to face with her or even utters a word, Lana pushes Ruby out of the way.

I think or expect many things, but when it comes to this woman, it's a mistake I consistently make. The woman is unpredictable, so instead of running into Graham's arms like I had hoped, she runs right out of the diner without looking back.

Everyone is left dumbfounded, especially Graham. They all gaze at each other with pained hearts and confusion that only makes me feel worse. I caused it, so I have no choice but to fix it.

My feet carry me out of the diner as well to catch up to the woman that I so helplessly fell in love with. Of course, I have no idea where she went. All I can count on is my instincts so I follow to where my instincts, and my heart, takes me.

"Hey wait!" I call after her. The sound of my voice freezes her movements completely. When she faces me, I nearly broke down at the sight. Her nose and eyes are so red; it's probably all from running and crying at the same time.

I just want to comfort her, but who's to say if she even wants it from me? She's obviously going through the motions right now. Still, I take a cautious step forward, and another, until I'm face to face with her.

Her shiny cheeks scrounge as she looks me in the eyes with so much pain on her face. Frantically she shakes her head as if she wants to reject reality, but in this moment she knows, that her brain won't hide her from it anymore.

"Lana," I gesture softly. I know she's not Trina anymore; I can feel it in my gut.

"I trusted you," She snaps coldly with a stern glare that would send a body builder running for their lives. The fire in her eyes makes me want shrivel in my skin, but I fight against it and cup her cheeks lovingly. She doesn't even pull away. She lets me wipe away her tears as she let's out her pain.

"You promised me Emma and you go and do something like that?!"

"You remember so much Lana. The promise, my name, our little baseball game, the date I've planned and you still don't trust me?" That leaves Lana lost for words. She furrows her eyebrows to think about what I just said, "No thinking remember? The harder you try the more painful it is."

"I can't do it," she sobs. Her face shoves right into my chest leaving me no choice but to hold her as tight as her trembling body will allow. "I hate him! I want nothing to do with him."

"Lana you don't hate him or else it wouldn't hurt so much. You need to face your past now and mend things. Set yourself free and be happy. It's been working so far, so why not trust me on this?"

Her warmth soon leaves me cold as she slowly pulls me away. Gently she dabs away her tears and silently lets her beautiful head hang low as she thinks about the offer. I know that in her heart that she would do this. If not for her sake, then Laya's. This family feud is only hurting the girl.

Laya and Graham have a special bond that I have witnessed over and over again. Imagine how hard it is for her not to be able to see her favorite uncle because of the feud he has with her mother. It's not fair to her.

"Alright, fine. It looks as if you won't let me refuse anyways."

"You got that right." I flash my cheeky grin earning her beautiful laugh once again. I could listen to her giggles endlessly. Hopefully someday I will.

We lock eyes just as we normally do. My palms are sweaty from just how nervous I am in this moment. The tension in the air painfully squeezes the life out of my lungs. I don't let it stop me; not this time.

Lana made the daring move in the diner, at the park, and this morning with her flirting and small gestures. This time, I'm determined to make a moment to remember. She lets me. It feels so good to know that she'll let me press my lips against hers.

The soft, plumpness perfectly melds together with minds. The feeling relieves me of all anxiety and worries I had lodged in my brain. She presses her lips harder into mine. A soft hum immediately follows. My heart swarms and grants me the courage to tug at her waist. One thing leads to another; her hands trail along my jawline and gently traveling up until they cup my cheeks.

The gentle kiss turns into a passionate one. Her gentle caressing ceases. With so much power she forces my face as close at it can possibly go. I take that as invitation to grope her as well. Honestly, I couldn't control myself or my hands really. It's just that I have wanted to squeeze her ass for so long now. Oh my god they're so perfect.

My groping earns another magical hum from Lana's lips, encouraging me to do it again for both our pleasure.

"AHEM!" The stern voice startles us away from each other. I could just feel Lana's embarrassment and it only makes mine worse. Her face turns a bright red. Her head shamefully hangs low to hide from the source while I stare ahead at the teen before us.

"We were just—" the girl holds up her hand, stopping me from my rambling. Her stern face breaks into a smile, easing the tension in my muscles.

"You know, I usually hate PDA, but I'll let it slide just this once." Lana quickly looks to her daughter in amazement before her face twists into a huge smile.

"You little brat!" She scolds. Laya playfully squeals and makes a run back towards the diner with her mother happily chasing behind her.

"I didn't do anything!" Laya calls behind her with nothing but giggles.

"You do everything! Get back here or you're grounded for the rest of your life!" Lana teases. Eventual Lana catches her daughter and tickles the girl with her wiggling fingers.

"Mama! I can't breathe!" The hysterical laughter continues even when I finally catch up to them. I don't say a word, I just watch. Ruining this moment would kill me.

"You're such a cock blocker dude." Lana groans. Finally she lets Laya go. The teen takes in heavy breaths and tries to fix her clothing to it's original state.

"I was born for it." Lana rolls her eyes and faces me yet again. Her smile softens. Beautiful is not a good enough word...

"First you want me to find a girlfriend and then I find one, and you wont let me kiss her?" Girlfriend?! What the hell did I miss?! And Lana never looked away while saying hat sentence. Maybe its her way of getting confirmation from me?

I feel so many things right now. This time, I couldn't help but let my nerves take control. Knowing they'll screw me over pains me, but I can't help it. She's my girlfriend!

"Y-yea Laya," I play along after reality struck. "Let us be the couple we were destined to be."

Laya's eyes flicks between the both of us, "When the hell did this happen?!"

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Lana scolds with a pointed finger, "and don't worry about it. Just know that it happened."

Laya mutters 'whatever' and turns heal away from us. She walks back to the diner leaving me and Lana to trail behind. We become stuck in our own little bubble as time flies by.

"So, girlfriend huh?" I whisper. Lana giggles and locks her fingers gently with mine. She happily sway our joined arms without a care in the world.

"Well I think you've earned that right. Unless you want me to take back my offer? There's still like 10 phone numbers back at the—"

"Nope! No! Girlfriend is fine." I conclude. Lana hums out of delight a quips,

"That's what I thought."


	10. Chapter Ten

_Out of all of Mama's ego's I fear Regina the most. Pain...anger and pain is the true definition of this woman. Although mama had a hard time remembering grandma, her brain made sure to create another personality to tuck Lana away from her miseries._

 _I've learned, now that I'm 15, that its her way of hiding. She wakes of feeling a certain way and her personalities resurface so that she can hide away from reality. I wish I could hide away from reality because now I feel nothing but pain. I walk around with the heaviest heart and I can't help but feel alone. Alone and taking care of my own mother._

 _Regina is a perfectionist and an extreme disciplinarian; nit only to me, but herself as well. When grandma Dolores died, she completely flipped. Lana came home, wrecked the house, and then switched to Regina right after. I didn't know it at the time, so I thought that mom finally lost._

 _The look on her face wasn't like her at all. Her eyes were darkened with anger and her features were twisted into a cold scowl that would scare the toughest person you can ever meet. The way she yelled at me that day struck fear in my heart for the first time in a long time, but that didn't stop me from yelling back. I wasn't going to let her blame me for something that she forgot she did._

 _Still, I lost the battle. I ended up having to clean up the entire mess and mama didn't refrain from striking me in my face to shut me up;or should I say Regina. Even though she hurt me, that same night I heard sobbing from her room. Being the loving daughter that I am, I went to comfort her only to find her sleeping through a nightmare._

 _Then the next morning mama was still Regina. I found her in the bathroom with the mirror broken and deep gashes down her arms. It wasn't enough to commit suicide but it was enough to cause immense pain on myself and my heart. It took me all of the strength I had not to break down with her. My dull heart sprang back to life with a jolting pain and lodge right into my throat to make matters worse._

 _I called Aunty Ruby after that, and that's how we discovered that mama wasn't Lana, Trina, or Roni...she was Regina that day. The only personality that shows how mama truly feels about life._

 _"Don't you have anything else better to do," she quips with a permanent darkened tone. I refuse to look this woman in the eyes; I known that my heart will shatter in an instant. I hate my life. Why haven't I just ended it yet? I mean what's the point? "I'm talking to you!"_

 _Regina snatches away my camera, hating that its causing me to be such a disrespectful teenager. Inwardly I groan, not having the heart to hear any backlash from this woman, "You know, you're the one that taught me how to use it. It used to be yours."_

 _With a furrowed gaze. Mom shifts through all of the photos I've taken over the hears. I'm actually trying to suppress the bile because something tells me that she would just destroy my only source of sanity just like she destroys everything else. To my surprise, her facial features softens and she mutters, "I don't remember teaching you this...these are really good Laya."_

 _"Really?" Am I hearing correctly? I mean is she still complimenting me? Is this even Regina I'm still speaking too?! A small smile forms on her face as mama gently sets the camera down, "mother?"_

 _"Yes dear." She's still Regina...the could woman rests her chin in locked fingers and studies me. Im only sitting in the dining room because I had to clean it or else she'd completely flip and find something to scold me with. All the bruises are reminders that its not worth it at all. Then I decide to ask the daring question,_

 _"Why aren't you happy? Why are you always like...this," I gesture to her. I know Lana would never tell me, but maybe Regina can. The personalities never realize that they expose all of mama's secrets like it's nothing. I've learned a lot from them that mama would never tell me like the smoking and photography from Trina, and playing baseball from Roni...but what can I learn from Regina?_

 _The woman let's out a heavy sigh and decides its best to rest her palms on the table, "When I was little mijah, your grandfather told me all sorts of stories about magic and happiness...hope. I believed all of it. I believed that one day I would live to see my happy ending until the world ripped him away from me. Grandma helped me get over it, she bought me a dog," What?! I didn't know mama loved animals! "I named her Lola and she was the best dog a girl could ever ask for. Together, we'd go to the nearby farm and help out. In return the nice couple would teach me how to ride the horses and take care of them. I was happy again or maybe it was all an illusion."_

 _"What made you like, not happy after that?" I cautiously question._

 _"It was a boy, Daniel. Truth be told I only kept going back to that farm because of him. At first I had good intentions but, I just couldn't get enough of Daniel. I used to call him the stable boy because every time I came to visit, he was in the stables." Mom and I share a laugh together. Her facial features softens as she thinks about her past moments shared with Daniel. Well it could be her thinking, or it could be her transitioning. The only way I find out is when she says,_

 _"What were we talking about?" I let out a heavy sigh, but the confusion in her glassy orbs breaks my heart. Instead I rest my hand on top of mama's to show her that I'm here for her._

 _I knew it would happen. If one of the personalities sees or thinks about something about mama's past before they go to sleep, mama would wake up with a clean slate not remembering a thing except for the last time when she were herself. Even thats a little shaky for her. But one day Regina will come back, and maybe that day I can learn about the truth behind Daniel._


End file.
